Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer
by Neoraichu
Summary: A strange flame-haired girl arrives mysteriously on Berk, and after the little incident with Heather, the locals aren't exactly thrilled to see her. But she's amazed to see how well dragons and humans seem to live together in Hooligan Village. But she has a dragon ally of her own as well, and both sides will be shocked when it's revealed to them. Mature scenes later on.
1. Chapter 1

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf &amp; Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 1: The Flame-Haired Spear Maiden

While it was perfectly normal to see a visitor or two to come in with Trader Johan, it was not usual to see a new face a week after he'd left, and certainly not from the direction of the wild dragon cliff. Certainly not a fair-skinned flame haired maiden with a hoggspjot (a single bladed long spear with a sharp point, three barbs along the back side, and an iron ring at the other end of the shaft) and a hornbogi (a recurve bow of moderate length composed of both bone and wood). She also bore a leather pack across her back as well as a good sized quiver of arrows. The hoggspjot was used as a walking staff, and the bow was slung over the shoulder opposite the quiver. If one looked closely, they could see a number of knives of various shapes and sizes in sheaths on both sides of her belt, and while some appeared for eating, skinning, or filleting of fish, a couple did look like war knives.

A closer look would show her copper red hair bound into two braids just behind her ears, and her shining green eyes. She didn't wear a helmet, but instead wore a broad leather headband. And even though she was wearing leather armor over most of her body with fur trim, it was apparent she cut a rather feminine shape. She also wore leather gloves and boots with similar fur trimmings. Overall, her entire outfit was shades of brown.

As she walked across the grassy meadow towards the village, she avoided the grazing sheep and the crazy-looking old coot that was giving her the hairy eyeball. She only bothered to glance in his direction, as staring back may provoke some kind of response she didn't want to deal with. But he just stayed near his front door of his house, so she hoped that meant he wasn't going to make trouble.

As she walked on, a two-headed dragon flew overhead right towards the village. It seemed odd at first that no one in the village was panicking at the sight of a Hideous Zippleback. But as she watched the beast close in on the main square, she could see human legs dangling off the sides of the heads. It seemed that each head had a rider on it.

In fact, a number of small and tiny dragons seemed to be perched on various rooftops all about the village as well. The dragons and humans seemed to be getting along to some extent, although she could see men along the docks chasing away dragons from their stores of fish and their fish smoking setups. Judging by the masts she could see, a number of fishing boats had to have been in the harbor at the time.

She walked past a few homes on the outskirts of the village when she spotted a young man standing outside his front door. With his short and spikey brown hair, thin build and average height, he didn't seem worthy of greater scrutiny... until she saw his left leg. Judging by the wood and metal prosthetic she saw, at least a good chunk of that leg was gone. Yet his lean build didn't make him look like much of a warrior either. Perhaps if his arms were stronger than they looked, he might have been good with a bow, sling, or short spear. He didn't seem to see her, so she decided to quell her curiosity for the moment and just move on.

Going further on, she passed by a modest shop. The walls inside were lined with all manner of axes, hammers, maces, shields, and other implements of war. Judging by the amount of metal she saw and the size of the back of the shop, at least some of the weapons may have well been forged right there. At the very least, it was the place were such weapons could be cleaned, polished and sharpened. With so many weapons of war in one place, she began to wonder just what sort of village she had stumbled into.

Then a large viking with a handlebar mustache stepped out to hang a sign, and she realized immediately that he was not only missing part of his right leg (but replaced with a simple peg), but also almost half of his left arm (currently with a hook attached). He wore a horned helmet that extended about two feet above his head, and his mustache hung down his face just as far. His shoulders were covered in deep brown fur, but the rest of the shirt was a lightly tanned soft hide. He also wore thick pants that came down to about knee level.

But he seemed rather busy, so she just walked on by. He didn't even seem to notice that she was there.

She looked up to see a Monstrous Nightmare passing overhead, and that beast surely bore a rider along it's neck as well. Even a creature as fearsome and dangerous as that didn't seem to get a rise out of the locals. It seemed to be flying towards the same destination as the Hideous Zippleback. She wondered if the riders knew each other.

As she came over a hill in the road, she could see off in the distance on a cliff above the village was some sort of arena. With the spiked iron bars forming a cage around the edges, she had a sickening idea what it may be used for. But then it seemed odd they would have such a thing when she saw the villagers displaying almost no fear of dragons.

And as she started walking down the hill towards the open center of town up from the docks, she could in fact see the riders of the dragons talking while their Monstrous Nightmare and Hideous Zippleback looked at each other. While one appeared to be a set of male and female blonde twins, the other was a stockier male with short black hair. But all of them wore the horned helms that marked them as warriors. While they seemed just a little too animated for a friendly chat, it didn't feel that violence was likely to break out either.

But now that she was much closer to the dragons, she could see that they had saddles and riding gear. They looked like they were practically domesticated beasts. It seemed hard to imagine some creature as fierce and proud as dragons willingly allowing themselves to be mounts or beasts of burden.

So she circled around the riders, as they were too busy to notice her, and headed right towards the Monstrous Nightmare. The dragon leaned down to intimidate her with it's fangs and beady eyes, but when she simply glared back without fear, it backed off by rearing its head again. She slowly walked about the dragon to see just how clean, groomed and obviously well fed it was. Pausing a few times to touch its scales, she noted that they were recently cleaned as well. The head slowly followed her around, but still kept a respectable distance. She reached out to scratch it at the base of its right wing, causing it to thump the left leg on the ground like some kind of giant happy dog.

She knew that the stocky male was approaching her purposefully before he even said at her, "Just what do you think you're doing with MY dragon?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf &amp; Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 2: She has a Dragon too?!

Atgeirr looked at Snotlout as she scratched his dragon and made his Monstrous Nightmare thump his leg against the ground.

"Me?" she asked innocently, "I just had so see your Monstrous Nightmare up close. It's such a fine specimen of dragonhood as I have ever seen. I can tell that you take very good care of him."

"Well," he said slightly taken aback by her gushing praise, "That is... obvious..."

The twins walked around him as the male twin said, "HEY! What about OUR dragon?!"

"Oh, that is SURELY the finest Hideous Zippleback I've ever laid eyes on!" she said back as she looked from one twin to the other.

"Of course," said the female twin, "but that doesn't explain your intentions towards them."

"Yeah!" said the first twin, "How do we know you aren't setting up for an invasion like the last pretty maiden that came along?!"

She looked at them all and laughed.

"What's so funny?!" asked the large dark haired male.

"Oh, my tribe wouldn't take me back if I gave them the whole island gift wrapped!" she laughed.

"And what's WRONG with this island?!" asked the male twin accusingly.

"Other than the fact there's dragons and they aren't all skins," she said more seriously, "the chief's son tried to rape me. I defended myself and my honor. He's done it often enough, but he'll never make that mistake... **ever again!**"

"Did you kill him?" asked the female twin.

"No," she replied slowly, "but the Chief claimed I killed off his family line. I told him he can just make another, and hopefully raise this one to be more respectful of maidens. But that wasn't good enough. I could either marry his son... or leave forever..." She looked away when a tear formed in the corners of her eyes. "So I left."

While the female twin looked on with sympathy, her brother squinted at her as he asked, "You look way too armed and armored for a simple traveller. What do you _really_ want in Berk?!"

"What?! All I have is simple hunting tools! The armor is just to protect me from predators at night!"

"Really?! What do you hunt with that spear?!"

She glanced at the hoggspjot and said, "Well d'uh. It's obviously a fishing spear."

"What kind of..."

"If you have to ask," she replied, "then you don't want to know what kind of fish monsters I hunt."

"And the bow?!"

"I hunt many things with this," she replied as she glanced at the bow, "and it also keeps me safe from... various vermin."

"And those knives?!" he asked as he pointed at her belt.

"Hey, my kills need to be filleted, skinned and butchered before they can be cooked, you know. They don't slaughter themselves, you know."

"How strange you said that," he replied, "Neither do Vikings."

"Just what are you trying to say?!"

"I think you're a spy _just like Heather was_! She conned us into taking her in, and we all nearly paid for it!"

She looked around at their accusing eyes, and snorted, "Fine! I'll just go away! Will that make you happy?!"

"How?" asked the stocky male, "Trader Johan won't be back for weeks?"

"Maybe she has her own boat?" suggested the female twin, "It's not like these islands are far apart."

"That proves she's a spy!" said the male twin, "No one legitimately goes around from island to island by themselves! She probably has a longboat full of warriors waiting for her to come back and report!"

"I think you should be held here until Chief Stoick can talk to you," said the stocky male, "He can tell if you're a spy or not."

"Curse it all!" she growled, "Why does it always have to end like this?!" Reaching into her top, she pulled out a small twisted whistle and blew it hard. But other than the sound of air moving, there was nothing they could hear.

"Hey guys," said a rather large and somewhat fat boy as he walked up.

Then a Night Fury flew in low over the rooftops.

They looked at it as the stocky boy said, "Toothless is here. He'll show you."

"**That's not Toothless!**" shouted the large boy.

They looked back as the Night Fury circled inwards and realized that the riding gear was completely different, and it had a whole tail. It shot blue bolts of fire at them to drive both the humans and the other dragons away from Atgeirr.

"COME MOON-DANCER!" she called to the Night Fury, "WE'RE LEAVING!"

But then another Night Fury came bounding down the street, bouncing off walls and pillars in order to avoid the street traffic. The two Night Furies saw each other, and immediately went straight at each other.

Atgeirr held her spear before her as she backed away from the locals. Between the new Night Fury and the spooking of their own dragons, none of them seemed too keen on going after her.

The two Night Furies collided at the edge of the city square and began wrestling in a ball of black scales and flashing white teeth.

"TOOTHLESS!" called a young man from up the street, "WHERE'D YOU GO?!"

She looked up the street and realized it was the one legged boy she'd seen before. He ran pretty well on his construct leg, she had to admit.

"**What's all the fuss about, Hiccup?!**" asked the larger peg-legged man as he ran up behind him. His hand had been replaced with a large double-bit battle ax.

"I don't know, there's some kind of..." he said before he saw the Night Furies wrestling, "**TOOTHLESS?!**" Being Hiccup, he ran right down towards the wrestling dragons. But the strange red-haired maiden tackled him before he got there. They tumbled a few feet before he wound up on top of her. "What are you doing?!" he yelled in her face.

"Oh, you surely aren't dumb enough to get between a frisky male and female, are you?" she asked as she flipped him over. Now she was on top and pinning him down against the cobblestones.

"**WHAT?!**" he asked as he looked into her eyes.

"They're just deciding who's the top dragon. No fighting. If they were fighting, one would surely be bleeding by now. And look, not one fire blast since they starting wrestling each other. You may have to forgive Moon-Dancer. It's the first male... heck, the first **any** gender Night Fury she's ever met."

"I didn't even know there was another Night Fury anywhere!"

"You really thought you had the last?"

"Well, I've spent quite some time looking for another, but I've never seen one anywhere!" he replied as he calmed down, "Well at least until I saw... what I must believe... is **your** Night Fury."

"Oh, she's just my partner," she replied, "Sometimes I wonder if she just follows me around for the fish and the affection I give."

He chuckled as he replied, "I get the same feeling about Toothless."

"I GOT HER!" called the large stocky boy as he lunged at her back, but a metallic flash and a knife at his throat seemed to make him change his mind very quickly.

"Snoutlout!" Hiccup called at him, "Just back off and let me handle this! That goes for you too, Tuffnut and Ruffnut!"

They were maneuvering themselves to attack her as well.

"Oh yeah," said the female twin, "I can tell by the way she's sitting on your chest that you have everything under control."

"Your sarcasm it touching, Ruffnut," he sighed as he looked at the female twin.

The Night Furies finished wrestling, and it was plain to see that the male called Toothless was on top. The one called Moon-Dancer was pinned under the full length of his body.

"Well, it looks like your Night Fury won," sighed the red-haired maiden, "I guess he can mate with her any time he wants to."

"WHAT?!" asked Hiccup.

"**ENOUGH!**" called a loud and forceful voice. She looked up to see a very large, very strong, and quite heavily bearded red Viking stomping down the street towards all of them.

"Hey dad," said Hiccup.

"Oh the Chief's here," said the peg-legged one, "Someone's going to get a lecture now..."


	3. Chapter 3

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf &amp; Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 3: Under Stoic Scrutiny

Atgeirr found herself in a room under the stern gaze of Stoick the Vast. But unlike most times, there was others there with her. His own son, Hiccup, was there, along with Snotlout Jorgenson, the twins Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorsten, Fishlegs Ingerson, and one more female rider only casually introduced as Astrid Hofferson.

But she was more concerned about how well her Night Fury was getting along with Hiccup's own. While she was readily loved by Toothless and accepted by Barf &amp; Belch, and Hookfang, she wasn't sure how well she would get along with their other dragons, Stormfly, Meatlug, and Tornado.

"So you defended yourself against the chief's son, injured him, and then was banished from your tribe because you refused to marry?" Stoick asked with his back to her.

"Yes," she replied.

"Yet you say they hated dragons, and you somehow came across a Night Fury?"

"I found her egg abandoned and buried months after I left the tribe for the last time."

"But you somehow knew how to take care of it and raise it as you companion?"

"I have to thank my Grandma for that," she replied, "She came from a place she didn't want to talk about, but she set me on her knee as a young child and told me everything she knew about dragons."

"But she seems to know what we have in OUR Book of Dragons," offered Fishlegs, "plus many of the things that we learned about them later from Hiccup. I think the fact she knows all the names recorded in the Book of Dragons proved that her Grandmother at least read our book at least once."

"I don't know," said Hiccup, "The Book of Dragons was based on the oral history of the Vikings of Berk. Many of those legends have been spread around the Archipelago by traveling ships. Surely many types of Dragons, their names, and their known info was spread around. I'm sure I'm not the only Viking who's ever befriended a dragon and learned some of their secrets."

"That sounds quite reasonable," said Stoick, "Even I was against dragons until you showed we could live with them."

Ateirr got up and walked over to the window. Looking down, he realized that Toothless was mounting Moon-Dancer even as the other dragons and a few passersby were looking.

"Is there a problem?" asked the Chief.

"Oh, I'm just making sure my dragon is alright," she replied, "and... wow... Toothless isn't wasting any time proving he's the top dragon with her."

Everyone but Stoick rushed over to the window to look.

"So even dragons do it doggy style," commented Tuffnut before Ruffnut bopped him in the back of the head. "What?!" he griped as he looked back, "None of our dragons have ever been seen doing... it... before." She bopped him again. "WHAT?!"

"Now I don't know if I can leave even if I wanted to," she said quietly.

"Why is that?" asked the Chief.

"Because Night Furies mate for life. She won't leave here now. Not unless Toothless comes with her. I'm not sure if I even matter to her anymore. If I left, she would stay with Hiccup and Toothless."

"So you won't leave your dragon behind?"

"I can't. I won't."

"I don't think she's a spy," interrupted Hiccup.

"But where can she stay?" asked the Chief.

"Well..." he said slowly, "I'm sure Moon-Dancer is going to stay with Toothless up in my room... so..."

"What?! You're going to sleep with her after what she did?!"

"Well not in the same bed, obviously!" he replied quickly, "There's not going to be any... advances on my part... surely not attempted rape... I'm sure I can sleep on the floor on the other..."

"No!" she protested as she looked away, "It's your room and I can't take your own bed from you! I'm sure sleeping on the floor is no harder than sleeping on a rock under the open sky!"

"Very well," said the Chief, "I'm sure I can find or make a smaller bed to place in Hiccup's room. As long as she and her dragon are living in my house, Tornado and I can make sure she stays out of trouble as well as block any trouble... from some of the other Berkians."

"I'm sorry to be such a bother," she said quietly as she watched Toothless resting on Moon-Dancer's back. They were both new to mating, and she was sure they both wasted a lot of time and energy because of their inexperience showing.

"I doubt you could do worse than me," said Hiccup, "Before I brought down Toothless and began to understand him... I was the worst Viking in the history of Berk."

"No, just in the living memory of Berk," offered his father.

Hiccup laughed nervously.

"Very well," said the Chief, "I'll have the second bed brought up this evening while you show our guest around the Hooligan Village, Hiccup. While I can't put up a divider wall, I can put a curtain between the two beds so you won't have to stare at each other." He looked back at Atgeirr and said, "My son... is a little shy... especially around girls."

She laughed a bit nervously.

"He's not shy around me," said Ruffnut.

"You're a girl?" asked Tuffnut, "I thought you were just my sister."

She bopped him over the head again.

"So... Hiccup... doesn't have a girlfriend?" asked Atgeirr awkwardly, "I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night to... you know... noises."

"I don't believe he does," he replied, "Certainly no maiden he'd take to his room... to make noises."

But Atgeirr saw the look on Astrid's face, and wasn't so sure.


	4. Chapter 4

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu/

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 4: Living with a Hiccup

Atgeirr was being shown about the Village of Hooligan while the second bed and other particulars were being set up in Hiccup's room. She couldn't help was sort of mess she had fallen into this time, but even a single glance told her that Moon-Dancer and Toothless were now inseparable mates. They certainly acted like a couple of teens in love. They took every chance to be at each other's side, nuzzle their mate, lick them and otherwise engage in playful activities.

She looked at Hiccup and wondered what kind of teen he was. While he was polite, smiles and manners, she knew painfully well that that could easily be faked. The other chief's soon was just the same, until he trapped her in his room and tried to rape her. She hated to be judgemental, but then making such decisions had saved her life, or at least her virtue, on more than one occasion.

While everyone seemed to be polite while she was looking at them, she could see them whispering to each other and pointing at her when they thought she wasn't looking at them any more. Then she saw the angry looking man that stared at her from his porch. He wasn't subtle as he stared at her, or the way he glared at the two Night Furies.

"Oh don't mind him," said Hiccup as he saw him as well, "That's just Mildew. He doesn't like strangers and he doesn't like dragons. The man thinks that his sheep are being stolen at night even though they're all there in the morning."

She blinked.

"Yeah, he's a bit of an oddball... in a village of oddballs."

She giggled for the first time since she came to this island.

"This isn't such a bad place once you get to know it," he said softly.

By the way he spoke, he just seemed like the kind of guy she could trust.

"You don't say much, do you?"

She looked down and replied, "Back in my village, my voice didn't count for much."

"That's a shame really."

"Why's that?" she asked as she looked into his eyes.

"Because everyone matters," he replied, "Even Mildew."

"And it's because of that, he can change minds and hearts," said Gobber, who seemed to appear from nowhere, "Before Hiccup befriended a dragon, we all thought the only good dragon... was a dead dragon."

"I take it the wooden leg and the interchangeable hand are from those days?" she asked.

He nodded as he replied, "And I thought I couldn't do anything but kill dragons. But now I use my tools to pull bad teeth... from dragons."

"Then maybe he can change my heart," she sighed under her breath.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," said Hiccup.

"Oh," she said quickly, "Nothing important."

Gobber suddenly groaned.

"What is it?" asked Atgeirr and Hiccup together.

"Your dragons are doing... it again... in the middle of the road!"

They both turned to see that in fact Toothless had mounted Moon-Dancer again.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll keep doing that until she gets some eggs planted," she sighed, "Mother said Night Furies are like that up to the point she lays her first batch of eggs. Then they slow down."

"Great." he sighed, "As much as I'd like to see more Night Furies, I'd hate to think that they might overrun Berk."

She giggled again.

"So," he said, "I noticed you had a bunch of dried fish in your pack. How about some fresh cooked fish?"

"I have nothing to trade..."

"Don't worry about it," he replied, "I know people, after all. With what our dragons do around here for everyone, the restaurants are glad to give a few meals back."

"I suppose it doesn't hurt that you're the Chief's son."

"Oh, I don't really hold that over anyone's head but my own."

She blinked.

"Well, being the Chief's son set some really high bars for me. He wanted me to slay a dragon and make him proud, but I wasn't much in the way of warrior material. I'm more adept at making gadgets than swinging axes."

"Gadgets?"

He nodded as he pointed at Toothless' tail, and said, "One of my... earlier inventions... it took off part of his tail." He seemed rather sad about it. "But once I got to know him, I made that harness he wears so that he can fly again as well as he could before."

"Well, as long as your paying, I could go for some fish stew."

"I think you'd like the fish steaks better."

She looked down as she asked, "Why are you trying so hard to get me to like you?"

"Because... well... everyone deserves another chance. Is it working?"

She took his hand in hers as she replied, "I'm thinking about it."


	5. Chapter 5

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 5: Astrid gets suspicious

Atgeirr blushed as she held Hiccup's hand. The two walked down the street with Hiccup leading them towards his favorite restaurant. They pretty much served fresh fish in almost any way one could imagine having it prepared. While no one quite knew for sure how they managed to keep their fish fresh, considering no one had seen an ice breathing dragon, it was something they were not willing to snoop around to find. But Hiccup figured if there was a dragon (the Scaldron) that could boil water in its mouth, one could assume that some dragon somewhere could freeze water in some way as well.

Toothless and Moon-Dancer were following along at their heels. It seemed they knew where they were going, as both of them were quite obvious about how they were licking their chops with their teeth retracted and looking at the two of them expectantly.

But Atgeirr suddenly stopped as their hands separated. He paused to look back as she suddenly seemed transfixed on something. Before he could ask, she turned back to Moon-Dancer and whispered something in her ear. The tail began to swing back and forth as she jumped onto her head and ran straight down her back. Hiccup could hear a squeal, a thud, and then another thud.

"YOU!" Atgeirr said, "How long are you intending to follow me?!"

Hiccup ran around to see that Atgeirr was on top of Astrid, pinning her underneath by her thighs and knees. Both of the Night Furies has turned about to view the strange situation as well. She was also pinning Astrid down against the ground by her wrists.

"STOP IT!" he called.

"She's been following us for at least an hour!" replied Atgeirr, "I want to know why!"

Instead, Astrid simply whistled loudly.

"There's no need for this!" called Hiccup, "Just tell us why you're doing this, Astrid!"

"I don't need to explain anything to her!" she hissed back.

He could see Stormfly flying in from the north. For some reason, Toothless jumped on top of Moon-Shadow and covered her with his own wings and body as much as he could.

"STORMFLY!" he called to the approaching dragon, "No one's in danger! You don't need to do anything!"

So Astrid's dragon landed at a distance, but Hiccup still knew she was close enough to fire spikes. But at least he hoped there would be no violence. Then he turned back to the two ladies.

"Please," he said, "Just get off her. There's no need for violence here."

"Fine," said Atgeirr as she climbed off, "I wasn't sure if we were being followed by a man or a woman, so I wasn't taking any chances with my safety... I've been attacked by a number of men... for a number of reasons..."

"Well we've been double crossed by a number of fair maidens for a number of reasons," said Astrid as she got up to her feet, "and I'm not ready to give you a pass either."

"Look!" called Hiccup. "We all have reasons to suspect each other, but it's time we have a little trust on all sides!"

While the two maidens glared at each other, neither moved towards or away from the other.

"I think you two could be friends if you just understood each other better," he said as he stepped between the two of them, "so why don't you join us for lunch, Astrid?"

"Alright Hiccup," she said, "Perhaps I am being... too suspicious."

"I'm sorry for overreacting," said Atgeirr, "but after a few times where I wasn't so cautious, I would have been raped or dead."

Astrid look wide-eyed as she looked away.

"I... had no idea," she said slowly.

"That's why I want Atgeirr to feel SAFE here on Berk," said Hiccup, "and why I'm willing to trust her enough to let her stay in my house so that our Night Furies can stay together as happy mates."

"I'd love to have lunch with you," said Astrid awkwardly, "if I'm not... imposing."

"It's fine," said Atgeirr, "He's just being nice. We're not..." She paused as she noticeable blushed, and added, "dating or anything."

So the three dragonriders and their dragons continued on towards the restaurant.


	6. Chapter 6

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 6: Making Friends

Atgeirr walked by Hiccup and Astrid as they made their way to Hiccup's favorite restaurant. Their dragons followed fairly close behind.

"So..." she said slowly, "You're saying that Astrid here is not your steady girlfriend?"

"No," they both replied as one.

"We just work together on behalf of the dragons," continued Hiccup.

"So you don't mind that I'm staying in his room?" she asked Astrid.

"Hiccup is the son of the Chief," she replied, "and can surely behave himself around a maiden."

Hiccup nodded.

"That's good," she replied, "It seemed when you were following me earlier, you seemed a little jealous that Hiccup was showing me around."

"Never," replied Astrid, "I was merely concerned with the continued well being of Hooligan Village."

"I... can respect that."

Hiccup stopped in front of one of the taller and better looking buildings as he said, "Well, this is the place." He glanced back as he said, "You know how it is, bud. This place isn't made to accommodate dragons. I promise you something nice when we leave."

Toothless nodded as he looked at Moon-Dancer.

"Alright," he giggled, "I'll get something for your mate too. She's part of the family now, after all."

"Make sure they both stay out of trouble," said Astrid, "and I'll get you something too, Stormfly."

Stormfly nodded.

Atgeirr looked up at the roof as if contemplating something until Hiccup asked, "Is something bothering you?"

She pointed at the upper level balcony as asked, "How strong is that?"

"It can handle about 4 tables and about 20 diners," he replied, "Why do you ask?"

"Will it handle two dragons?"

"I suppose," he replied, "but why would two dragons... ooohhh..."

Astrid blinked. Hiccup laughed nervously. But the red haired maiden simply looked at the Night Furies as she said, "If you two are going to do it up there, at least mind the tables. I don't need to start a tab in this village so soon."

The Night Furies both nodded. She wasn't sure if they were going to ignore her as her Moon-Dancer was want to, or that she just gave the two of them the idea she was trying to avoid. But then as mates, she figured they had already thought about it before she ever brought it up.

"Look," said Astrid, "I'm sorry about being so suspicious earlier... so I want you to consider yourself part of Hiccup's crew."

"Crew?" she asked back.

"Yes. There's Hiccup Haddock, the official leader as he's the best dragonrider. I suppose that me, Astrid Hofferson, is kind of his second in command. Then there's Fishlegs Ingerman, the dragon scholar of Berk. Then we have Snotlout Jorgenson as well as Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston. I believe that you've met all of them already in some capacity or another."

She nodded as they walked in.

"I know your first name is Atgeirr," she continued, "but what's your family name?"

"It's... not important," she replied as she looked away, "Not here, anyways."

The other two seemed to 'accept' that answer, for the moment. Hiccup walked over to the waitress as he said, "Table for three, please."

Atgeirr followed as she asked, "Is the outside level being used?"

"No," replied the waitress, "That's only normally used when the main floor is full, or on some special occasion. I'll be your waitress for your stay here today, so feel free to call me when you're ready to order. Find whatever open table you wish to take."

"Thanks, Ingrid," replied Hiccup.

Atgeirr saw about half a dozen scattered about the tables, and yet she had the uncomfortable feeling that all of their eyes were fixed on her as Hiccup led the three of them to an open table.

"We don't need any more strangers around here," muttered Mildew from his table in the back corner, "especially ones with another Night Fury."

"Just ignore him," replied Hiccup, "Almost everyone here does."

"I'm not so sure that he's alone in feeling that way," she replied as she looked down at her feet.

"Look," he replied as he leaned closer, "I turned a whole village of dragon hunters into one of dragon riders. Even if it takes years, I'll get them to accept you and Moon-Dancer as much as any of us. I swear."

She looked into his sincere eyes, and cracked a smile. He had the kind of face one couldn't help but believe in.

"So what do you and Moon-Dancer like?"

"Oh," she replied, "I'm sure whatever you pick is fine, as... long as it's not eels..."

He chuckled, "So you and your dragon don't like those, eh?"

She nodded.

"It seems kind of ironic at least to me that the house specialty is... Haddock."

She blinked and giggled, "I suppose it is at that."

Then the building began to shake lightly.

"Are those two?..." asked Hiccup as he looked up towards the upper level.

Atgeirr nodded as Astrid facepalmed.

"Dragons in love," sighed Atgeirr.


	7. Chapter 7

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 7: Settling In

Atgeirr was learning to be comfortable in Hooligan Village. It was getting to be almost too good to be true. Hiccup was about the kindest gentleman, sharp witted, intelligent, sincere and friendly as she had ever met in her life. When their Night Furies bonded, she felt at first that she was being trapped again, but now it felt like the greatest blessing she had known. Even the jealous girlfriend, Astrid, was coming about to see her as a friend instead of the outsider. There was still some doubters like Mildew, but they seemed in the minority for once. There was no crowd clamboring to throw her out of town out of fear or rage.

So she had a delicious haddock steak while their dragon partners worked on the upper patio making more Night Furies. It was the best meal she had in years. For once, the spear and bow in her pack didn't feel necessary. But the people seemed cautious enough that carrying such weapons about didn't seem out of place, so she figured that they were used to conflict on a regular basis.

But the most fascinating thing was listening to Hiccup's history as he chose to tell it. How he grew up dreaming of fighting dragons to earn the respect of both his father and the other villagers. While he was creative and inventive, he was shoved into a corner because he just wasn't the physical juggernaut that his father or the other respected warriors of the village happened to be. Yet when one of his inventions took down a legendary Night Fury, he expressed how hollow it felt. Like he had accomplished nothing after all. So he went out in search of his kill to prove himself only to find that the dragon was not slain, but trapped because of it's damaged tail in a large sinkhole. He told her in detail how he used his powers of observation and innovation not only to befriend the Night Fury he named Toothless, but how he used that knowledge he gained to impress everyone with his ability to handle dragons in general. Then he invented a device to allow Toothless to fly again with Hiccup as his rider/partner. Parts after that were a bit glossed over for Atgeirr's tastes, but the essential story was a battle against some kind of dragon queen that resulted in the loss of his foot as well as the final acceptance of his father and his village. Then he moved on to the part where dragons became generally accepted in spite of their... quirky behavior. Hiccup came to be respected as the premier dragon trainer in all of Berk.

She realized that if Hiccup could make it in this crazy world, she had a chance to do the same. And perhaps for once, Berk might be the place where she could make that dream come true.

"I hope you don't mind me droning on about myself like this," he said apologetically.

"Don't be sorry for such an amazing story," she replied, "It's the kind of story that should inspire Vikings everywhere."

She noticed that Astrid was quietly nodding in agreement.

He looked away, blushing even as he said, "Aw g'wan... you're giving me a swelled head."

"She's just being honest," replied a deep voice, "and I'm as proud of you as anyone."

Atgeirr looked to see the large man with the broad flaming red beard she had seen and heard before.

"That means a lot," Hiccup replied as he looked at his father.

"So how are things with your girlfriend?" he asked as he put his arm about his shoulder.

"Dad!" he protested, "We're just friends!"

She noticed that Astrid was blushing as much as she was.

"I kid you," he said as he punched his son in the shoulder, but then leaned closer and said, "but still, if you decide on one of these fine maidens as your wife, I'm already sure they're both quite the catch."

"DAD!" he protested, "You're embarrassing me!"

"You're embarrassing _me_," muttered Astrid.

But Atgeirr stood up quickly, looked Stoick in the eyes, and grabbed Hiccup's hand as she said, "Well, thank you for the fine dinner, but I think it's time for you to escort me home."

"But it's early," said Stoick as he looked at Hiccup.

"I need time to settle in," she said, "as well as Moon-Dancer. That and the fact I'm already planning to lose some sleep tonight while our Night Furies work on expanding the population of their species."

"Alright," he said, "I'll try not to wake anyone when I get home later."

Hiccup barely managed to stand as Atgeirr dragged him from his chair, looking straight ahead when she broke the gaze she had been holding with Stoick.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he called after him.

Atgeirr sighed once they were outside.

"He means well," said Hiccup.

"I know," she replied, "but still it's going to take a little getting used to."

"Well Dad's most likely going to spend some time hanging out with Gobber," he said, "and there's a place I want you to see before we go home. It's not all that far from here."

She nodded as she replied, "Well lead the way."

Hiccup looked down, and she looked down at the way she was still tightly gripping his hand at the wrist.

"Oh sorry," she said as she let go.

"Don't worry about it."

Toothless and Moon-Dancer leaped down from the restaurant at their side. The way she glowed, Atgeirr wondered if there was any eggs in her nest.


	8. Chapter 8

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

"Part 8: Haddock in a Hole

Hiccup led Atgeirr through the woods from the edge of the village. She looked at the tangled trees as they maneuvered over the buried rocks. They could hear their Night Furies following behind.

"Something happened here," she noted, "and sometime around a year ago."

"How can you tell?" he asked.

"These broken trees," she observed, "They're sappy enough to sealed their breaks, but it hasn't been seasoned by the winter cold as of yet. I would wager to guess that something dragon sized came crashing through here under less than favorable conditions."

"Are you sure it was a dragon?"

"It had to be," she replied, "unless there's some other flying creature of equivalent mass."

"So you're sure it was in flight?"

"Yes. There's not enough disturbance left on the ground for it to have been a land creature. Am I close?"

"Actually, you're right on the mark. We're not far from where I wished to take you."

She glanced over her shoulder as she remarked, "I take it this has something to do with your past and Toothless?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Because it's plain that your dragon doesn't wish to advance any further," she replied, "and it seems that Moon-Dancer is willing to stay back with him."

"That's okay bud," he said to his dragon, "It's cool if you hang back. We won't be gone long."

Toothless made an acknowledging grunt echoed by Moon-Dancer. So the two of them moved on until they came upon a massive sink hole. It was large enough to make a small arena on its own, and yet there was only spring water to sustain the life within.

"I take it this is where Toothless... wound up after you..."

"Indeed," he replied as he scratched the back of his head.

"And the place where you formed the first true bond with a creature you once considered a mortal enemy?"

He nodded. "I guess you're lucky that you got Moon-Dancer as an egg," he said softly, "You never had to..."

"It is said that iron forged in the flame is much stronger than that which is merely shaped with a hammer," she replied, "So I think your bond with Toothless goes deeper than mine with Moon-Dancer."

"Oh, I'm sure your mettle has been tested since you two met," he replied as he smiled at her.

"Yes it has. I'm sure that your bond has as well."

"Look," he said as he looked away, "I... don't want to pressure you into anything... I know it's our dragons basically dictating the terms at the moment..."

"I... appreciate your thoughtfulness. It's something... I'm not used to."

"It should be something you should get used to."

She suddenly sighed deeply as she bent over and picked up a small stone. "Oh, there's something I am used to," she mused as she hefted the rock in her hand and bounced it a few times.

He looked in concern as he asked, "What might that be?"

"The feeling I'm being spied on!" she hissed.

She suddenly flung the rock underhand into the bush with a thud to hear a male's voice say, "OW!"

"Toughnut?! Roughnut?!" he asked in dismay, "What's the deal?!"

"It's lucky we always wear helmets everywhere," he moaned.

"It's lucky you have a skull as thick as a dragon's," replied his sister.

"Why are you spying on us?!" asked Hiccup in dismay.

"Because we couldn't take the chance that... you know... something sneaky was going on," he said densely.

"We can't let anything... you know... happen to our leader," added his sister.

"Nothing was going to happen!" he snarled.

"No," Atgeirr replied, "Please don't be angry with them for being prudent."

"But..."

"I'm still the stranger. The unknown. They're right to be suspicious of my motives."

"And you'd be entirely right to be suspect of my motives," he replied.

"I suppose I should," she mused, "but... I feel like you're the most honorable viking I've ever met."

"And I hope that I never give you reason to change your mind about that."

"Yeah," said the blond boy, "I... guess... our work here is finished..."

"I think everything is cool, so we're going back," replied the twin, "We... have Barf and Belch to feed..."

"Dragons to take care of," he agreed as the two of them fled the scene.


	9. Chapter 9

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 9: A Dark and Stormy Night

Hiccup took Atgeirr to the hole where he first befriended Toothless. Where he first found that a dragon was better as a friend than a trophy. It was the start of his trip from dragon slayer wannabe to dragon trainer. To have a dragon as a friend and partner. All because Toothless had a broken tail and couldn't get out of that hole in the ground. In a way, trusting a human was his only alternative to death by starvation. It was lucky that it was Hiccup who tracked the fallen dragon to that hole, as any other Viking would have most likely slain the Night Fury for the glory.

"So this is where it all began?" she asked as she looked down and around.

"Yep," he replied, "It all began here."

"I can see how Toothless is reluctant to visit this trap again," she observed, "Nothing but water to live on. No permanent bird population. Perhaps so seasonal migrants once a year, but that's about it."

"How can you tell that?" he asked.

"There are no birds here now," she replied, "and there's a small amount of remains of nests along the walls. Not enough to show a long term occupation, but only infrequent visits from migrant birds."

"Wow," he replied, "You're so observant."

"I've learned to pay attention to the seemingly least details out of my struggles to survive and evade... unpleasantness." She looked up and sniffed at the air before she continued, "Like right now, I smell a storm coming in from the west. It's coming tonight and it's going to be rather large. Your house is a good shelter and I'm lucky you're letting my dragon and me stay there with you."

"I hope I live up to your expectations," he replied.

She looked back at him, but said nothing. Then she looked back down the hole. Then she said at last, "I think I've lived all the charm of this hole. Perhaps it's time to collect our dragons and get back to your place before the storm strikes."

"I want you to feel like it's your home too," he replied.

She looked back again without comment. Then they started their trip back to collect their dragons.

...

They returned to Hiccup's home in time to beat the storm. It was just starting to rain by the time they got there. So even though bedtime was hours away, they went upstairs to make sure that curtains separated the two sides of the room the humans would be using. Stoick had brought up a folding cot so it could be set up on the other side of the room. In spite of her protests, he insisted that the guest take the bed. It was the only gentlemanly thing for him to do.

Toothless and Moon-Dancer were quite happy to share his loft. He was quite willing to act as her bed as long as they weren't trying to create some more Night Furies. It seemed that they were as happy as two dragons could possibly be.

Once that was established, they decided it was best to study the Book of Dragons and compare it to what Atgeirr's grandmother told her about them. After hours, they decided that they knew about the same amount of knowledge, but not everything was the same. They both held knowledge that wasn't known by the other.

"Are you two planning to stay up all night?" asked Stoick as he poked his head in the doorway.

"Maybe..." she replied awkwardly.

"Oh, we're about done," said Hiccup about the same time.

"Well call me if you need anything," he replied as he walked away.

"Sure thing," he answered, "but I'm sure nothing is going to happen before morning."

"All right," said the retreating voice.

"Do you want to go upstairs first?" asked Hiccup.

"If... it's not a bother..." she replied awkwardly.

"I wouldn't offer if it was," he replied softly, "I'll wait a while to let you get comfortable before I follow."

"That's terribly sweet of you."

"Just who I am," he answered with a grin.

"I hope that sound means they're getting the mating urges out of their system for tonight," she sighed.

He paused to listen and heard the creak of wood from upstairs. Fortunately, Toothless' loft was quite sturdy and not given to creaking or moaning even under his mass. He hoped it would hold up as well under the two of them, especially if they "got busy".

She smiled as she made her way up the stairs. He waited while he listened. Suddenly a scream made him jump from his chair. Fearing the worst, he rushed upstairs to see what the problem was. He plunged through the curtain to see Atgeirr covering her chest with the sheet as she look under the bed. Then she looked at him and screamed again.

A sidelong glance told him that the dragons were in fact mating again, and yet they suffered mate-us-interruptus from her scream.

"What wrong?!" he asked disregarding her screaming.

Much to his surprise, she ran over and hugged him as she wept. He placed his arm about her back and tried to comfort her by rubbing it.

"What's wrong?" he asked again.

"A rat!" she choked between sobs, "I HATE RATS!" She spent several moments weeping against his chest before she calmed down. Then she hugged him for several more minutes.

"So..." he said at last, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes and no," she replied with a blush.

"So what's still wrong?"

"When I rushed over to hug you," she replied, "I... kinda dropped the sheet..."

If he wasn't in a leather vest, he would have realized much sooner that she was pressing her bare body against him. That made him blush as much as (if not more than) Atgeirr was. Then things became more awkward as Stoick charged in wearing a night shirt with battle ax at the ready.

"What's going?!.." he began, but stopped cold in his tracks as he said, "Oh my..."

"It was just a rat, Dad," said Hiccup, "Atgeirr said she hates them."

"Well..." he spluttered, "I guess everything is under control..."

"Dad!" protested Hiccup, "I swear nothing's going on here no matter what it might look like!"

"That's what I told Gobber the first time he caught me with your mother, and..."

"DAD!" he scowled, "I'll tell you about it in the MORNING!"

He turned and stalked back down the stairs. Turning, he saw he had torn down the sheet separating the two human sides of the room.

"I swear I'll close my eyes and stand right here until you say you're presentable," he offered gently.

"Okay," she sniffed.

He closed his eyes tightly and released her. While she moved quietly, he could barely hear her gathering up the sheet from the floor. A moment later, she said, "You can look now."

She had wrapped herself in the sheet once more. For the first time, he could see that her armor was laid out on the bed. She was apparently going to clean if when she spied the offending rat.

"Uhm..." he said slowly, "I'll just put the curtain back up. I guess I need to secure it better this time."

"Hiccup," she said softly.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for not trying anything just now," she replied.

"I couldn't!.. I wouldn't!.. I'd never!.." he protested as he restored the curtain between their bed areas.

She said nothing as she went back to cleaning her armor. After all, she was going to wear it all night as she was used to.


	10. Chapter 10

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 10: A Girl and her Dragon

Hiccup awoke in the morning. He sat up and stretched as he got out of the makeshift bed that was left for him. It was a little rough and would take some getting used to, but he really didn't mind. He noticed that Toothless was still on top of Moon-Dancer and may well have been still inside her when he noticed a flash of red that seemed out of place. Quietly, he made his way over to their loft and noticed that Atgeirr had moved over to sleep with her dragon sometime during the night. Moon-Dancer's foreleg was draped over her torso and her tail over her legs.

'_I guess you stay with the one you trust,_' he thought as he looked at her peaceful smile.

Toothless opened one eye to look at him. He could tell that his dragon couldn't have been happier with the arrangements. The way he gripped her sides, Hiccup figured he had some 'morning wood' to deal with.

"Just be careful there bud," he said to him quietly, "You don't want to disturb your other guest." He gestured to Atgeirr though he wasn't sure that Toothless could see her from where he was. But he grunted softly before he started mating with Moon-Dancer again.

But the yawn for Moon-Dancer told him that it was enough to wake her up. She opened one eye to look at Atgeirr while she felt Toothless continuing what he was doing when he fell asleep. With a human under her foreleg, she had to keep her motions to a minimum to avoid accidentally injuring her.

"Well I might as well get started on breakfast," he mused as he headed for the stairs. He wouldn't have been surprised if Stoick was already up himself. The work of a Chief was never done. That was one of the reasons he wasn't in such a hurry to become one himself. He was much happier training dragons and organizing their riders.

"Sleep well?" asked Stoick as he looked up from a pile of scrolls before him on the table.

"Well enough," he replied.

"And our guest?"

"Oh, she's sleeping with her dragon and Toothless," he replied.

"Not much for creature comforts?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I think her creature comfort IS her dragon," replied Hiccup with a grin, "I guess I can understand. If I were stuck in a strange village with nothing but Toothless, I'd cling to him for comfort as well."

"I just hope the Night Furies don't hurt her... while they're... you know..."

"I know," he replied, "and I think they're both going out of their way to avoid troubling Atgeirr."

"We do seem to be a little fragile compared to dragons, don't we?"

"I guess so," he replied as he walked towards the kitchen, "So what do you want for breakfast?"

"I'd like to stick around," answered Stoick, "but I'm expecting Gobber along any time now. There seems to be trouble over at Mildew's place again."

"Oh?" he asked, "More blaming dragons for missing sheep that aren't missing?"

"No," he replied, "He claims he saw a stranger in black armor last night, and they stole one of his sheep."

"Really?"

"Yes, but we won't know how serious it is until we look into matters."

"I hope he's not trying to blame Atgeirr for this," he sighed.

"Well since she has an alibi, I don't think any of his accusations are going to stick."

"I'd hate to think that any trust she has in me could be ruined by some baseless accusations. She just deserves better than that."

"You really like her, don't you?"

Before he could formulate an answer, he could hear Gobber yelling from the front door. "Come on, Chief!" he called, "Your adoring public awaits!"

"No rest for the Chief," he sighed, "I guess I can see how you're in no hurry to replace me."

"There's no one who can replace you, Dad," he replied.

"A little more experience and a few more years, I'm sure you'd be a fine Chief," he said as he stood his full height.

"I'm in no hurry to test that," he said.

"Well I'm not quite ready to retire from this job myself," said Stoick as he strode for the front door.

Hiccup got the wood stove lit. Making sure it was burning nice and strong, he pulled out a couple of large salted fish fillets and began preparing them for the frying pan. The smell of cooked fish always got Toothless out of his loft in the morning. Assuming of course that he was finished mating with Moon-Dancer. He had never seen Toothless so driven towards any one goal as he was with his efforts to mate with his Night Fury mate. While the fish was frying, he took out a good loaf of bread and ripped in into chunks. While Toothless wasn't big on bread, he figured he was fixing breakfast for Atgeirr as well as himself.

Sure enough, Toothless was sniffing the air ahead of him as he crept down the stairs from his room.

"Morning buddy," he said as he checked the fish, "Ready for a busy day?"

His dragon grunted as he noticed Moon-Dancer appear at the top of the stairs behind him.

"Well come on down you two before it all gets cold," he smirked as he set down a couple of large fillets on wooden plates that he sat down on the floor in an open corner of the room. Then he looked up the stairs and added, "And don't be shy about joining us."

"You don't have to..." began Atgeirr as she appeared at the top of the stairs.

"As guests here," he replied, "I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't."

"So where's your father?" she asked as she made her way down the stairs.

"Oh I'm sure that Mildew is imaging something again," he replied, "I'd swear he makes up stuff just to get attention."

"I hope that's all," she said softly.

"What?" he asked as he looked up at her.

"Nothing important," she replied, "I just hope that I'll come to be accepted here some day."

"I would like that very much," he said.


	11. Chapter 11

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 11: Looking for Sheep

Stoick counted Mildew's sheep as Mildew and Gobber watched. The sheep simply milled about the pen while they did so.

"Well?" asked Mildew.

"I hate to admit it," replied Stoic, "but I think two of his sheep are missing."

"I'm sure they've just wandered off," said Gobber.

"We should help Mildew look for them."

"I just can't believe he's not blaming this on dragons this time," he said as he glanced at Mildew.

"Hey," he replied, "I wish I could blame dragons for this one. But I'm sure I saw a man in black armor last night. It wasn't a dragon." He looked seriously at Stoick and added, "Maybe it's that outsider girl! I don't trust her!"

"Look," he replied evenly, "She was at my home all last night with my son and their dragons. Besides, her armor isn't black and you definitely said it was a man in black armor."

"She probably has friends waiting to attack! They're killing off my sheep so we'll go hungry and lose morale!"

"It could just as likely be spies sent by Alvin from the Outcasts," suggested Gobber.

"Well the last spy was from Alvin too, and she stabbed us in the back at the first chance!"

"Well she knows as much about dragons as the Book of Dragons," he replied, "So that alone proves she's not an Outcast."

"I'd still keep an eye on her!"

"Yes, I am keeping an eye on her," he sighed, "I have the feeling she might feel trapped here because her dragon is now mated with Toothless. She won't leave her dragon behind."

"Are you taking her side?!"

"There's no sides here," he replied, "I'm just trying to be fair to her. She apparently has had... issues in the past... with strangers... I want her to feel home here on Berk."

"C'mon," said Gobber as he waved out towards the fields, "We might as well find those sheep before lunch."

...

Atgierr watched as Hiccup crawled around Moon-Dancer with a knotted length of rope. It was several yards long. She didn't seem to mind whatever he was doing.

"So what are you up to?" she asked at last.

"Well as long as you're our guest," he replied, "The least I can do is make some custom riding gear for Moon-Dancer. It's real easy since she's about the same size and shape as Toothless."

"I don't really need..."

"Oh, you'll get to liking it real fast," he replied, "You'll soon wonder how you got along without the saddle bag storage, the equipment harness and the other perks I'm planning on adding."

"Thank you. I can't pay you for..."

"And no payment will ever be asked for," he replied as he looked towards her.

"You're too kind," she said as she looked down at her feet.

"I... just want to try and make up... for all the others... who didn't do right by you."

"You're the kindest person I've known who weren't my parents," she said softly.

"Thanks," he replied, "I try."

"You try very hard."

He nodded as he went back to taking Moon-Dancer's measurements.

"Your fathers is pretty great too."

"Yes he is," he mused, "I think with a few modifications, some of Toothless' old gear will work fine until I finish work on the new riding gear."

"As long as it fits, that should be just fine."

"Oh no. I'm going to make your dragon brand new gear. She deserves it. You deserve it." He looked towards her and added, "That armor is looking worse for wear as well. I wouldn't mind making you a matching set of armor to go with the riding gear too."

"No no no," she protested, "I'm not worth the trouble!"

"Well I think you are," he said smiling as he looked back into her eyes. Then Toothless made a grunt, and he added, "See? Even my best bud agrees with me too..." He sputtered a bit as Moon-Dancer turned her head to lick his face. "Ugh, that doesn't come out," he protested.

"Oh, she just likes you too," she sighed. She then blurt out "I mean she likes you like she likes Toothless!"

Hiccup chuckled.

...

"Stoick! Mildew!" called Gobber from the other side of a small ridge, "You might want to come here and see this!"

"I hope he's found by sheep," muttered Mildew.

"That's odd," replied Stoick, "If he found your sheep, I'm sure he would have just brought them back here. Perhaps they're stuck in a cave or something..."

They followed the animal path around a few large boulders until the came into a small clearing. Gobber was looking over the remains of someone's campsite. There was the remains of a small campfire as well. Judging by all the rocks, it wouldn't have been to hard to keep out of sight by keeping the campfire small and smoke-free. But then they saw it... A sheep carcass. It was obviously butchered and eaten by more than one man. But there was still a fair amount of meat going to waste.

"MY SHEEP!" yelled Mildew.

"I think this is bad," replied Stoick, "We have raiders on Berk."


	12. Chapter 12

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 12: Looking for Intruders

Stoick returned to the house quietly. Hiccup noticed his quiet and waited for a moment when they were by themselves before he tried to ask him about it. There was a moment while they looked and listened around to make sure that Atgeirr wasn't around.

"Mildew had a couple of his sheep stolen," replied Stoick.

"That's not unusual," replied his son.

"We found the bodies," he added, "It looks like they were eaten."

"Still not unusual," observed Hiccup.

Stoick turned to look into his son's eyes before he continued in a low voice, "They were killed in the field, dragged off into the bushes and eaten by humans. They were cooked a distance away over a small campfire."

"You think Mildew might try and blame Atgierr for this?"

He looked down slightly as he answered, "That thought crossed my mind."

"She doesn't deserve that," said Hiccup as she glanced down as well.

"I know," he said, "So for the moment, I think it's for the best not to worry her about it. Not until we're sure there's intruders on Berk. At least for the moment, we know the intruder wore black leather armor and Atgeirr doesn't."

Hiccup nodded.

"I have an idea how she's been treated elsewhere," he said, "and that's the last thing I want to do to her here in Hooligan. Not when she..." His voice trailed off.

"When she feels trapped here because of her Night Fury mating with mine?"

He looked up and nodded before he glanced downwards again.

"I just hope Mildew doesn't shoot his mouth off and start the rumor mill running," sighed Hiccup.

"Me too."

"In the meantime, I need to get back to work on Moon-Dancer's new riding gear and Atgeirr's new matching leather armor," he said as he turned to leave.

"I'm sure she'll like that very much."

...

Atgrierr checked her gear as she prepared to mount up. She was down at the docks as she glanced out to see. Plucking her fishing spear from it's sheath, she made sure it was nice and sharp. It was also quite well secured to a rather long coil of rope leading back to one of her saddle bags.

"So where are you off to?" asked Snotlout.

"Oh," she replied wistfully, "I thought it was time to get some... fresher fish."

"What's wrong with the fish we have?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied, "I'm just used to getting my own fish and I don't want my skills to... get rusty."

"Well I suppose you have to keep your skills sharp," he replied, "I know I have to work a lot to stay as awesome as I am."

She nodded as she looked back at him.

"So..." he said, "Good luck with that."

"Thank you," she replied.

"So is anything going on between you and Hiccup?" he asked her out of the blue.

She blushed sharply before she replied, "No! He's been nothing but a gentleman to me." Her voice was almost spluttering as she continued, "Just providing a place for our dragons to be together while they're mating."

"So he hasn't..."

"No!" she denied, "He hasn't tried anything with me!"

"So... are you in the market for a real man?" he asked as he waggled his eyebrows.

She spun about and slapped him before she leaped on her dragon's back to fly off. He watched her fly away before he commented to no one in particular, "Yeah, she's totally into me..."


	13. Chapter 13

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 13: First Blood

Hiccup returned to his studies of the Book of Dragons. He wondered if he could make any new entries in that grand book of his own. It was late enough that Stoick would have turned in for evening. Being the Chief of Berk was surely a demanding and tiring task that he didn't look forward too on the day his father would retire.

But then Toothless groaned from his crib.

"I know it's kind of late buddy," he said, "but I'm sure they just spent the day fishing. I'm sure Moon-Dancer will be back shortly."

He could hear her dragon coming back, but for some reason didn't come straight up to the loft. Then Toothless pushed open the loft door to go down and join his mate. He began to worry about the distressed sounds they were making so he ran down the steps toward the front door to see what was wrong.

When he flung the door open, he was face to face with Atgeirr. He realized that her left should was pierced with an arrow from the back. It had passed clean through her body to emerge from the other side. Her front had a large blood stain on it.

"Sorry to be such a bother..." she said just before she passed out and fell into his arms. He didn't even notice how the arrow's head tore his own shirt open down his side.

"Atgeirr?" he asked, "ATGEIRR?!"

He managed to twist her about so he could pick her up in his arms, and then carried her into the house.

"DAD!" he screamed, "DAD!"

He managed to check her breathing while he waited for Stoick. As a veteran of battles, he knew about as well as anyone how to deal with an arrow wound.

"What is it son?" asked Stoick, "What's got you so worked up?" Then he looked over the edge of the balcony as Hiccup turned to face him. "By Odin's beard! What happened?!"

"I don't know!" he replied, "The dragons seemed upset when Moon-Dancer came home, so I went to the front door and saw her... like this!"

Stoick ran down the stairs to examine the wound. He also checked the pulse in her neck.

"Okay," he said at last, "Just hold her like that until I get that arrow out. It doesn't look like it broke any bones or cut any blood vessels, so at least we're lucky in that regards."

"Just be careful," pleaded Hiccup.

"Of course I will. Now hold her steady," he replied as he put on one of his gloves. He gripped the arrow head tightly and snapped if off as cleanly as he could. But even that left her shuddering in pain even if she wasn't awake to feel it. Then he grabbed she shaft from the other side and pulled out the arrow remains the same way it got into her.

"I'm glad to hear that," he sighed.

"Now we have to strip her armor off to get that wound wrapped," he said evenly.

"Please," he asked, "Give me a moment to do that."

"Honorable as always," he said as he turned his broad back and shoulders around, "Then I can look at your injury."

Hiccup looked down at his side where the arrowhead scratched him leaving a slightly bleeding cut in his skin. "Don't worry about me," he said evenly, "It's no big deal." He started unbuckling the straps holding her leather chest and back plates in place.

"But as your father," he replied, "I have to worry. Part of the job."

"I can take care of this," said Hiccup, "but I'd really appreciate it if you went out and made sure Moon-Dancer wasn't hurt as well."

"Of course," he said as he made his way to the door, "I'll be sure to take off her riding gear and store any fish she caught as well."

"Dad," he said softly, "You're the best."

"And I have the best son to take after me," he replied as he opened the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 14: Rest and Reconnaissance

Hiccup watched Atgeirr sleeping once he had bound her wound. He hoped he managed to staunch the bleeding before she lost too much. Her armor was fairly heavily stained with her own blood by the time Moon-Dancer flew her back to his house. He felt bad that he had to strip off her top armor in order to bind her wounds, but he figured the bedsheets would provide her proper modesty until she awoke and could dress herself again.

"Is she alright?" asked Stoick as he came upstairs.

"I think she didn't lose too much blood," he replied softly, "but I have to watch her a couple of days to make sure she doesn't take a turn for the worse."

"Well you better get a little sleep sometime," answered his father with some concern.

"How's Moon-Dancer doing?" he asked as he looked back.

"I saw no signs of any hits," he replied, "There's no indication of any other shots."

"So whoever fired that one arrow knew what they were doing," said Hiccup with some concern, "I'm worried that we may well be dealing with a master archer."

"Then he should have been able to hit the dragon as well."

"I think that Atgeirr was his only target. Perhaps he wasn't even trying to kill her with that one shot. He didn't care about the dragon once she was injured."

"So... this is some kind of blood vendetta?"

"That makes sense. Someone who took offence about what she did to that Chief's son. Even if she didn't mean to injure him that way, it's still considered a grave insult to one's pride."

"They must have been tracking her for years by now."

"That proves that they are both determined and dangerous," replied Hiccup.

"Once they realize that Berk has taken her in, they might start attacking the rest of us..."

"More the reason to keep her here and protect her from their vengeance. It's not like we haven't dealt with intruders on Berk before..."

"Don't take me wrong son," he said evenly, "She's in no shape to run and I'm not sure that it would even matter at this point. I'm just saying we ALL need to be alert now. We ALL need to defend our homes and our island."

"Thanks Dad," he replied evenly as he looked back into his father's eyes, "I'm glad you cleared that up."

"It's the least I can do for a possible future wife..."

"DAD!"

Stoick began chuckling heartily.

"But right now, we should set up patrols between our dragonriders and the citizens of Hooligan. It would be best if the dragon patrols and the ground patrols cover each other in case one gets ambushed. Because of that archer, we can't assume that the dragon's riders are safe from their fire."

"You're getting to be more like a Chief every day son," he chuckled.

Hiccup moaned as he replied, "I hope that day... is a long long way off."

"Oh, I'm sure we both feel that way."

"HEY STOICK!" called Gobber from out front.

"A chief's work is never done," he sighed, "Perhaps I can retire early and let you take over."

"I have a feeling another sheep is missing."

"My feelings tell me your feelings are right about that," he sighed again as he headed downstairs. Then he looked back over his shoulder as he added, "You won't turn your future wife away for being scarred, are you?"

"DAD!" he moaned, "You're lucky I don't have anything to throw at you!"

About then, Moon-Dancer and Toothless entered the loft from the outside door. As Stoick said earlier, he could tell that Moon-Dancer's riding gear was removed.

"She's fine," he said as he looked at the two, "Don't worry about it."

So Toothless mounted Moon-Dancer again.

"To be young and be in love," he said as he quickly looked away.


	15. Chapter 15

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 15: Ruff and Tuff

"So," said Tuffnut as he walked along the trail, "What are we out here for again?"

"Hiccup said we're supposed to be looking for intruders," replied Ruffnut walking at his side.

"How do we know intruders when we see them?"

"Well duh," she answered, "If we see someone we don't know, then they're a stranger."

"And?"

"If they're a stranger, then they're someone who isn't supposed to be on Berk," she continued.

"And?"

"Well... that makes them..." she said as her logic faltered, "Uh... something!"

"And?"

She bonked him over the head as she said, "Well we drag them before Chief Stoick to see if they're the intruder!"

"Well that shouldn't be hard," he said as he looked around, "Hey! Who's that guy over there with the sheep?!"

She looked with him as she said, "I don't know. We better sneak up on him and jump him fast. He did shoot Hiccup's girlfriend with a bow you know."

"Hiccup has a girlfriend?" he asked as he looked over.

"Well duh," she replied, "She's living in the same house with him."

"Isn't that a presumption I should be making?"

"What?" she asked, "That they're playing house?"

"Oh..." he replied, "I thought they were playing something else..."

"Like what?"

"Well, they have two mating dragons to spend hours watching... Wouldn't that... you know..." he said more slowly.

"Know what?!"

"Like eat each others food and stuff!" he blurted out at last.

"Oh," she replied, "That sounds kinda gross."

"Isn't that what Barf and Belch do?"

"Yeah," she answered, "But that's different. Barf and Belch are related after all. Like us."

"Oh right..."

The two of them fell quiet while they sneaked up on the man doing something with the sheep. He was petting one of the sheep on the head.

"One... two... three..." she said as they jumped him.

"What are you idiots doing?!" called the man in surprise as he fell.

"Give it up stranger!" they called.

"I'm not a stranger you morons!" he replied, "I'M MILDEW!"

"Sure you are," answered Tuffnut, "You can explain that when we drag you before the Chief!"

"So you can come along nice and easy," she added, "Or we... _can do this the hard way!_"

"Please make it the hard way," he replied as he dragged Mildew to his feet, "That's always more fun!"

"I'M LODGING A COMPLAINT AGAINST YOU TWO!" he screamed.

"He must be good," she replied as they pushed him towards Hooligan, "It even sounds like Mildew's whining."


	16. Chapter 16

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 16: Men In Black (Leather)

"I need to search the island for whoever attacked her," said Hiccup to Astrid.

"But I can help..." she began.

"By staying here and looking over her," he interrupted.

"But Fishlegs is just as good at..."

"No!" he replied, "I can't take a chance... that..." His voice trailed off as he looked at the slumbering Atgeirr.

"Why in Berk would he attack me?!" she replied in a raised voice.

"If the attacker has been spying on us," he said, "They could have arrived any time after Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer came here. Who knows what they've seen or heard."

"So?" she replied as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"You and I have spent the most time with her since she's come to Berk," he replied, "They may have associated us by now. How better to hurt her than hurt one of her new friends?"

"But doesn't that make you just as much a target as me?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Look," he said as he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes, "You understand her better than anyone else..."

"Besides you."

"I know you'll do you best to make sure she doesn't get attacked again."

Astrid looked over at the red-headed spear maiden.

"Just until we've located the intruders and positively identified them," he continued, "Then I won't worry about calling on you to help out dealing with them." Then he glanced over at Toothless and Moon-Dancer as they cuddled together in his loft. They were both still, but looking at them both intently. "Besides, I think Moon-Dancer likes you better than she likes Fishlegs."

Moon-Dancer nodded.

"Fine," she replied, "Just don't take any crazy risks out there... okay?"

"Who?" he asked, "Me?"

"Yes," she replied, "You."

"Hey, I won't be chief one day if I die now," he chuckled.

She glanced down at his artificial leg before she replied, "Death isn't the only risk, you know."

"Besides," he said as he looked back to Atgeirr, "I hope that with the authority as the son of Stoick the Vast, perhaps I can come to an agreement with him. Perhaps he'll finally stop chasing her and let her live here in peace."

"The way he shot her," she replied, "I think he's just interested in making her suffer now. Don't hold your breath if you think he's going to be reasonable."

Moon-Dancer let out a low growl.

"Well, I have to try it anyways."

"Just don't try and do it all alone okay?" she replied, "We still have no idea how many raiders there are... or what they might be armed with besides one bow."

"I'll... have a way to call back up if I have to..."

Toothless grunted.

"That's okay bud," he replied as he looked at his dragon, "You have a mate now and you need to protect her. Protect all of the local dragons. Remember that Atgeirr said she came from an island where the only good dragons are skins. He might not have attacked Moon-Dancer before, but if he comes in here seeking her blood... I'm sure he won't care about killing any dragon that gets in his way."

Moon-Dancer grunted.

"Besides," he continued, "I'm sure he won't be so suspicious of me if I come to him on foot instead of riding Toothless."

Astrid nodded.

"If they're close enough to steal sheep and spy on us, then the walk shouldn't be that far anyways."

"Are you taking weapons?" she asked hopefully.

"Just a small belt knife," he replied, "I don't want to look like I'm spoiling for a fight either. Just the kind of knife that looks like it was meant to cut tough meat at dinner instead of a weapon of war."

"Do you think Stoick will approve of this?"

"He might get upset," replied Hiccup, "but I'm only going to tell him about all this... AFTER it's done."

"Oh he'll be really upset..."


	17. Chapter 17

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 17: Hunting the Hunters

Hiccup set out in search of whoever shot Atgeirr with that arrow. As much as he wished Toothless was with him, he knew he would be much less intimidating without a dragon with him. He figured that they had to be close enough to spy on Hooligan Village, but far enough away that they wouldn't be seen by the average villager. There was plenty of hills nearby that one could use as a vantage point to look down into the village, but he also figured they had to be close enough to Mildew to take a couple of sheep. That narrowed down the area he had to search considerably.

He absent mindedly patted the breastplate of his riding armor as he felt more comfortable. While it wasn't immune to a good arrow shot, it would surely keep the arrow from going too deeply into the vital parts of his body. Of course, he had to be very careful about taking any shots in the face, as he wasn't wearing anything more than a horned helmet, and they didn't really cover his face at all.

As far as weapons went, he only had a small knife that one could pass off as an eating blade. Such blades were so common that they weren't even considered weapons by most. It was hard to wield them in combat considering how small they were. Other than that, Hiccup was unarmed. He hadn't even bothered to equip himself with a shield.

Soon he had crossed the fields and was approaching the woods. The woods were thick enough to conceal a party of several in its close tucks and interwoven branches. There was enough shadows to use the dark color of his armor to his advantage. Enough cover to use to hide in case negotiations went bad. He was hardly a stranger to the woods after all. The first time he met Toothless, he crashed into a natural pit deep in the forest.

He was also familiar enough with the woods to know the basics of tracking. The signs were there if one looked: Trampled grass, broken twigs, freshly snapped off leaves from the lower branches. About the only thing he hadn't seen was signs of a camp, but he figured that could be in or near a cave to keep the firelight from being seen at night. There happened to be a modest sized cave not far from Mildew's property that pretty much filled all the conditions of a covert hunting party, and he just happened to know where that was.

Approaching the rocky hill cautiously, he was wary of places among the rocks and trees where he would place an archer to keep an eye on the area. So he tried to keep trees and boulders close in case he needed cover. But so far, no one was shooting at him.

"So you're the one my little Atgeirr choose to shack up with?" asked a man as he stepped out from behind a tree. His bow was drawn and aimed at Hiccup's chest. Hiccup could tell that his black boiled leather armor was made for warfare, and the lack of shine meant it was good for sneaking about in the dark.

"I'm not here to fight," he replied, "Just negotiate."

"What's there to talk about?" he asked as three other men emerged from behind rocks, "She has to come back to my village to make up for the shame of ending my family line."

"I take it you've been chasing her for months?"

"Years," he replied, "but what does that..."

"Because she's a dragonrider now," he interrupted, "and I hear they have no place on your island."

"So that scaly monster she rode," he replied, "that was hers?"

"Indeed," he said, "and since she mated with my dragon, she wants to stay on Berk to live with her dragon."

"Well the monster can stay," he said back, "but she has to go."

"Why?" asked Hiccup, "What could you possibly gain by dragging her kicking and screaming back home?"

"How would you know about a man's pride?!"

"I know that if it runs out of control, you pay the price for it," he said as he put his artificial leg up on the nearest rock.

"Did she do that?!" he asked.

"Of course not," said Hiccup, "That was my pride about dragons."

"Well she took something very special to me!" he exclaimed.

"Hey!" he answered, "You were going to rape her and steal her maidenhood! She left you island because that was the choice she was given!"

"I'm the chief's son!" he retorted, "No maiden is supposed to say 'No' to me!"

"A man takes 'No' for an answer!" he said as his voice raised, "If he wants a maiden bad enough, he wins her over with words and deeds, not force and coercion!"

"But she attacked me with a knife! The little bitch stabbed me and cut me! Personally, I wanted to execute her for what she did, but father said she either had to marry me or leave forever!"

"And why couldn't you just let it go at that?!" asked Hiccup, "Oh right, the whole pride thing!"

"Well now I can't just go back empty handed!" he growled, "That the years I spent chasing her were for nothing!"

"Now she is a citizen of Berk and the village of Hooligan," he answered, "She is under our protection."

"And what are you going to do when she cuts off your manhood?!"

"I'll take that chance!" he replied, "But if you want something to take home, I'm sure we can give you something else of equal or greater value."

"I'm listening," he said as he relaxed his draw on the bow.

"I have some gold and gem treasures my father has traded for over the decades," he said, "Treasures of the sea like pearls. There's other things we have that are fine wood and other metals. Surely we can come to some bargain so you can go home looking better than you left and... I can keep my future wife."

"Fine!" he said, "But I have to negotiate with the Chief. We have to be allowed to come to town without fear of being attacked or arrested."

"I can do that," answered Hiccup, "as long as your men promise not to attack first."

"Very well," he said, "Then we shall meet the Chief in two days hence."

"Fine," he answered as he turned to go, "but at least one Berkian would appreciate that you don't steal any more of his sheep."

"Fine! We won't take any more sheep! There's enough food left that we don't have to hunt!"

"Hunting he says," muttered Hiccup under his breath.

The archer vanished back into the trees.


	18. Chapter 18

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 18: Rest and Recovery

Atgeirr awoke to a sharp pain in her shoulder. She tried to sit up, but almost instantly felt weak as she laid back down again.

"Don't push it," said a voice nearby, "It's going to take a while to get over the blood you lost."

She looked to her right to see Astrid sitting at her bedside. Looking towards the end of the bed, she could see that they had interrupted their own mating session to stare at her.

"He's found me again, hasn't he?" she said softly as she looked away.

"Who?" she replied, "The son of that chief who tried to rape you?"

She nodded.

"Why is he so obsessed with you?"

"I was the first and only maiden who wouldn't let him have his way with me," she replied as she turned to look into Astrid's eyes.

"What happened?"

"He invited me to his house on the pretense he wanted to reward me for my efforts as a huntress," she replied, "I was warned that he wanted to seduce me, but I couldn't think of a reasonable way to turn him down."

"Big man in town, was he?"

She nodded as she said, "It was said that no woman who went to his house returned a virgin."

"So you went anyways?"

"Well I had not heard of any woman simply telling him 'no' before," she said softly, "They were almost all willing to make love to him for he tended to give... gifts to every woman he made love to." Then she added, "If a woman was initially reluctant, he would ply her with large amounts of golden ale."

"So he got them drunk if they said 'no' or seemed to hesitate?"

She nodded.

"That seems suspicious that any woman would go see a man with such a reputation."

"I had other reasons to see him," she replied, "My father was imprisoned for speaking against the Chief and his father would not listen to my pleas. At first, I hoped that having sex with his son would be enough for the son to appeal to his father to let my father go free."

"That seems reasonable."

"He started out as a gentleman," she continued, "Opened doors for me. Held chairs for me. Spoke nothing but honeyed words into my ears. Flattered me beyond all reason. I thought that by drinking fruit juice instead of ale, I would not get drunk..." Her voice faltered at that point.

"So he spiked the drink with a strong fruit flavored liqueur, I take it?"

She nodded. "The drink snuck up on me and I was fairly drunk before I realized it," she added, "so I didn't resist when he took me to his bedroom. He took his time kissing and fondling me as he undressed me. Doing his utmost to make me want to be screwed by him."

"What happened?"

"Just when he was done stripping me, he stripped himself in turn. I sat on the bed and watched. He leaned in and told me something that made my blood boil." By then, tears were welling up in Atgeirr's eyes.

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'I know you're here to get me to beg for leniency for your father, but my father just executed him about two hours ago. His body was tossed into the garbage pit with the rest of the scum'."

Astrid gasp.

"So I started fighting back. He was larger than me, stronger than me and not nearly as drunk as me. His weight was pinning me down on the bed and he was going to..." she said as she sobbed for a few seconds, "I just reached out for a weapon... anything I could use to defend myself."

"You grabbed a knife I take it?"

"On the bedstand was a map case, a hand mirror and a knife. I thought I had the map case, but he was too much in my face to see clearly. My grip was so tight, it was almost a death grip. So I just rammed it into his crotch to stop him from raping me. He screamed and jumped back, and the knife did more damage when it was pulled out in my hand."

"He deserved it, the bastard!" swore Astrid.

Toothless grunted.

"I panicked when he grabbed his crotch with both hands and continued to scream," she said, "So I just... ran. Ran back home. The only safe place I could think of. Then the Chief's men came to arrest me. They wouldn't even let me dress myself before I was tossed into a cell like the one my father was held in."

"I think I've heard the rest from here," she said as she drew the red-haired maiden into a hug.

Now the wounded girl had been reduced to uncontrollable weeping as she hugged Astrid back.

"So this... bastard... he's come looking for you for years? Vindictive much?"

She simply wept harder in the blonde maiden's arms.

"I hope he won't be... unreasonable with Hiccup..."

"No!" she replied as she struggled weakly, "I can't let Hiccup get hurt because of me!"

"Hiccup is a strong man. He can look after himself," she replied, "That's why he trusted me to look after you while he looked for... the one that attacked you. While Hiccup is all for diplomacy and reason, he can fight if he must. Even without Toothless at his side. At one time, I looked down on him as a weakling unfit to be a warrior, but he's grown up so much. He's so much stronger since he began training dragons."

"If he gets hurt..." she choked, "because of my past..."

"I swear I won't hold it against you!" said Astrid forcefully as she hugged the redhead to her bosom tighter, "He won't hold it against you!"


	19. Chapter 19

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 19: Toothless Grin

Now that his mission was over, Hiccup made his way back home. He was nervous that the man he met was rather intent on avenging himself because of the way that Atgeirr defended herself and her honor, but she was a citizen of Berk now. He hoped his father would defend her as vigorously as any other tribesman or woman. But another thing that bothered him was how quickly he blurt out that Atgeirr was his future wife even though the subject had never come up before. At the time, he was trying to bluff his way out of trouble, but he wondered if that little 'white lie' was going to bite him in the backside later.

While Night Furies mate for life, mating among Vikings was not so set in stone. The only thing that really kept a Viking couple together was their commitment to each other. Even the law and the gods tended to be a little vague about what the definition of marriage really was. It was said in some places that a Viking man was married to the sea long before he was married to a woman. Perhaps in his case, it was Toothless.

By the time he got home, the sun was well into setting. It had taken the better part of the day to track down the man hunting Atgeirr and walk all the way back to his father's home. He was getting a bit hungry since he never really stopped for lunch. Heck, he barely even thought about it until the smell of fish came to his nose when the Village of Hooligan came into sight.

He hoped very much that Astrid and her had hit it off while he was away. Berk could always use another well trained dragon and a skilled rider that went with it. He also wanted to know more about Atgeirr's grandmother and how she knew so much about dragons even when the rest of her island wanted them dead.

Sighing, he opened the front door as he wondered if anyone would be there to greet him. In fact, it felt like his father must have been hovering near the door considering how fast he showed up.

"How did it go, son?" he asked.

"Oh, I found him alright," replied Hiccup.

"What did he say?"

"Oh, he said his pride demanded that he drag Atgeirr back home with him," he replied dryly, "Or at least that's what his father demanded. He's spent years following her over who knows how many islands or how many seas."

"Did he threaten you?"

"No, but I think we can give him something else to take back home so he doesn't look like he returned empty handed. I'm hoping that will satisfy his pride and his father."

"So you think he might be willing to trade for her... freedom?"

"I think that we can offer him enough treasure to make it worth his while," answered Hiccup, "but..."

"Yes?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow.

"While we were talking, I kinda... blurt out that... Atgeirr was going to be my future wife."

"Really now?"

"I thought that if he believed I had a personal reason to protect her,.. he might think more seriously about trying to take her away by force. He had several men nearby and I'm sure there was more I couldn't see... but I'm pretty sure that none of them are dragonriders."

"Well at least that works in our favor."

"Still if the rest of his men are nearly as good as him with their bows, they could still pose a serious threat even to our dragons. We both know they have... weak points... that a bow can exploit."

"As long as they're on this island, we shall be ready for trouble. I promise."

"Thanks Dad," he replied as he looked up the stairs, "So..."

"I haven't gone up there myself to check," replied Stoick, "but... I did hear a fair amount of crying earlier. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Astrid who was doing it."

"Have either of them had dinner yet?"

"No, I've hardly heard a word from either of them since before lunch."

"They're probably as hungry as me," he mused, "I guess I can see how they're doing when I bring them something for dinner. Besides, I'm sure Toothless and Moon-Dancer are ready for some food as well."

"You know, it's been hours since the rafters shook..."

"Maybe Toothless is already a father," chuckled Hiccup.

"He's surely been working at it," agreed Stoick. He watched his son as he walked into the kitchen. After a while, he returned with a backpack full of smoked fish as well as a tray of other food and drink. It smelled like some kind of mixed fish chowder. Hiccup was good at making that sort of thing.

As he came up the stairs, he noticed that Astrid already had her knife in hand as she was looking at him. He could also see that both dragons had opened one of their eyes to make sure it was a friend coming up to see them.

"Any trouble?" he asked.

"No, but I'm worried about how obsessive the man that's been chasing her seems to be," she replied as she lowered the knife to a more relaxed position.

"I'm hoping he will be reasonable enough to... trade for Atgeirr's freedom," he said as he brought the food over. Looking down on the bed, he could tell that the red-haired spear maiden was sleeping.

"I hope so too," she mused, "No one here really wants bloodshed..."

"I know..."

"But by Odin's beard, I won't let him take her away if she wants to stay here with us," she said with determination.

"I agree."

Toothless let out a low grunt that caught his attention.

"So you think you're already a father now?" he asked as he looked in his dragon's direction.

"How would he know?"

"Well I'm guessing that once the mate is impregnated, something physical about her changes. Perhaps it's something that Toothless can see or smell. Even if she's the only Night Fury he's ever met, there's probably something in his blood that tells him what he needs to know about his mate."

"I'm sure Fishlegs will be giddy with that kind of news," she chuckled.

"Most of Berk will be happy," he replied, "besides Mildew, of course."

"He's about the only Berkian left who wouldn't shed a tear if all of the dragons vanished from Berk tomorrow."

"I know," he replied as he handed off the tray.

"That smells wonderful," she sighed after sniffing one of the bowls, "I bet we can make a good wife out of you yet."

"Very funny," he replied deadpan as he walked over to the dragons in their loft. As he laid out the fish before the Night Furies, he glanced back to see that the blond maiden was gently waking up their guest. Toothless seemed rather galant as he nosed the first fish over to his mate which she devoured eagerly as she ate her own. After all, she had a clutch of eggs inside her body to make large and sturdy before she could lay any of them. "You gotta eat some too," he scolded Toothless.

He looked back again and noticed that the two maidens he liked the most were now eating. Atgeirr was propped up against the backboard of the bed and he couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked even with her shoulder and chest wrapped up in bandages as they were.

Turning back, he grinned because Moon-Dancer had pushed one of her fish back under the nose of Toothless. A quick look into her eyes was all he needed to gulp that fish down. He could tell the two of them truly were mated forever.

"I talked to the other Chief's son, and he's willing to meet with Stoick in two days... to bargain for Atgeirr's freedom."

"You'd be willing to do that," said the red-haired maiden slowly, "Do that for me?"

"I can't let him take you back," he said darkly, "He even said to my face... that he'd rather kill you... than take you home. His father's the one who's demanding... honor be satisfied."

"Oh no," said Astrid, "I... don't want to think about... what he'd do to her... for revenge."

"Neither do I," he answered, "Besides, there's something I should tell you now, Atgeirr..."

She blinked as she looked at him.

"When he spouted that line about killing you rather than taking you back home..."

A silence fell over the room.

"Did you threaten him?" asked Astrid.

"Well..."

Silence returned. Astrid looked at Atgeirr as Hiccup looked awkwardly away.

"You told him I'm your future wife, didn't you?" said Atgeirr at last.

Astrid and Hiccup both looked at her wide-eyed.

"You thought if he truly believed I had a reason to stay," she said, "That you had a reason to fight, he'd be more willing to take something else in trade."

"Yes," he replied.

"How much did he say about... the incident?"

"Not much."

"Well you better hear this now," she replied, "before you hear it from his poisoned lips."

"What's that?" asked Astrid.

"When I was in a cell, one of the guards told me what he told his father. He said that he overheard the son tell his father... that I was there to attack him the whole time. That I hurt him like I did... as revenge for what the Chief did to my father. That... I was the one who seduced him. That I was only pretending to be drunk to get his guard down. That neutering him as painfully as I did was my plan all along. He even begged his father to have me killed and tossed in the garbage... alongside my own father's body. I don't know if the Chief intended this to be kind or cruel to me... but perhaps by forcing me to marry the one who tried to rape me, I would suffer a lot more in the long run. That man has told me... more than once... when I've bumped into him over the years... that he plans to make me suffer beyond imagining... for what I did to him." Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the time she was done speaking.

"**THAT MONSTER!**"

"I don't believe him!" growled Hiccup.

"**There's no way in Hel I'm letting you be taken back by him!**"

Hiccup blinked at the fury of Astrid's words.

"No!" choked Atgeirr, "He's a trained killer! A master with a bow! I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me!"

"We've faced angry dragons and Viking invasions," Astrid replied as she hugged her, "**You're one of us now and we look out for our own!**"

"Yeah!" agreed Hiccup, "I hope he'll leave peacefully... but he's leaving here one way or another **without you!**"

The Night Furies growled in agreement.

Atgeirr hugged Astrid back as she was reduced to uncontrollable weeping. Their partially eaten bowls of food fell beside the bed completely forgotten by all of them.


	20. Chapter 20

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 20: Arranging the Goods

Hiccup and Stoick looked over the treasure chests he kept locked in the basement of their house as they decided just how much leverage they had with the man pursuing Atgeirr.

"He's a hunter," mused Hiccup, "Perhaps he would take some of your old... dragon trophies."

"Well he can have them," replied Stoick, "It's not... something I prefer to brag about any more."

"Me neither."

"However, if he's of the more practical sort," added his father as he gestured to the various gold and silver trinkets he gathered over the years, "I'm sure sweetening the deal with some of these gold and silver items will make him more agreeable."

"I just hope that none of our people will make a fuss about turning over so much for Atgeirr and her dragon."

"Other than Mildew, I don't think there's going to be any problems."

"Is there anything you want to keep for sure?" he asked as he looked into his father's eyes.

"Just these," he said as he picked out two silver goblets that didn't look that special.

"Those?"

"They are the goblets that your mother and I had at our wedding," he sighed as he set them aside.

Hiccup nodded. "But we don't want to look like pushovers," he mused, "If he thinks that, he's really going to up the price to something neither of us can afford."

"I'll make a chief out of you yet, son."

"Still in no big rush to take your place there, Dad."

"But still it's a good idea to have you ready to step in... just in case," replied Stoick cautiously.

"A day I hope won't come anytime soon."

"As do I," he answered.

"It might look more impressive if we have the first offering all placed in one chest," mused Hiccup as he looked things over.

"Then we can have a second chest with the rest of the offerings," he added, "That one we keep out of sight until we need it. No point in showing our hand too soon."

"Good idea."

Stoick came over and poked his son in the shoulder as he said, "So... you're really ready to get a boat anchor and chain of your own?"

"Dad!" he groaned, "This is not a good time to speak of that!"

"Oh, I kid you son," he replied, but then leaned closer and added, "but if you do really love her and want her to be your wife, I just want you to know I already approve."

"Daaaaaaad..."

"I'm sure between the two of you, I'll have some fine grandchildren."

"DaaaAAAaaad! Stop it! You're embarrassing me!"

"Funny," he replied, "I thought insanity was something parents inherited from their children."

"Oh fuuuun-neee!"

Stoick just smiled.

...

"Hmm..." mused Astrid as she looked over Ateirr's body, "I might take a few adjustments, but I think we can arrange for a few nice things to wear when we... negotiate for your freedom."

"Sorry to bother you," she sighed back.

Astrid had her strip down after making sure the divider curtain was fully closed. She had to get her measurements to see if new clothing had to be made or she could wear something more available.

"Oh, it's no bother at all!" she replied quickly as she compared the red-haired maiden's bust, stomach and butt to her own.

"But you shouldn't have to give up so much..."

"You're worth it!" she answered as she pulled out a knotted measuring string, "I think Hiccup thinks the same!"

"You've been too kind," she sighed as she turned around.

Astrid started with her bust measurement. Reaching around and looping the string about her breasts and chest made the spear maiden squirm and blush some. It was worse when the string was pulled taught in the back as the measurement was taken. She let out a little sigh.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh... nothing important. You're just... somewhat larger on top than me. My shirts and blouses are going to be... a bit tight on you. I'll have to find something... larger."

"Oh... sorry."

"Well you can't help how you grew out..." she said as she quickly corrected herself, "Grew up!"

Atgeirr giggled nervously as Moon-Dancer grunted.

Astrid took the string back as she counted the knots.

"Feh!" Atgeirr sniffed as she turned her head to the Night Furies' loft, "What do you know about my situation?! Dragons don't even have breasts to worry about!" It seemed that Toothless was happy to use Moon-Dancer as his 'bed' once more.

Toothless chimed in with a grunt of his own.

"Oh, like you're helping any!" she snorted.

Astrid looped the string about her stomach to take that measurement next. With her strong stomach muscles, she was also a bit larger than the blonde viking maiden about her waist as well.

"Hmm..." she mused.

"Something wrong?" asked the spear maiden.

"I think you're going to have to wear a corset under the dress I had in mind."

"Am I fat?!" she replied.

"By Odin's beard no!" retorted Astrid, "but... there's other reasons I want to have several layers of linen and cotton around... your vital organs."

"You... you think he might turn violent?!" she asked in mild distress.

"I just feel... I can't assume... he won't try to hurt you... if negotiations go south."

She turned about again as she dragged Astrid into a tight hug as she sighed, "I couldn't ask for a better friend than you."

Astrid blushed as she felt Atgeirr's naked body tightly against her own. She reached around and gave her a few awkward pats on the back before she hugged her back. It was a few minutes before Astrid found her voice.

"Now let's get that ass... butt..." she said before she blurt out, "I mean hip measurements!"

She almost swore that Atgeirr had an impish grin as she released the hug and turned around again. Now it seemed all kinds of awkward as she looped the string about her hips as her fingers brushed against her sides. Then she looked at the number of knots and sighed, "I guess baby got back."

"What?" she replied.

"Nothing!" blurt out Astrid.

'_Such low body fat and strong muscles,_' she thought even as she tried to think of something else to talk about, '_I'm almost jealous of how fit she is... Well, I can't let her look that much better than me!_' She paused before she came to, '_Wait! What the heck am I thinking about this for?! It's not like we're competing for the hand of Hiccup!.. I think._'

She idly reached up and felt one of the red-head's long copper braids. '_Soft yet strong._'

"Something wrong with my hair?" she asked without looking back.

"Oh no!" answered the blonde quickly, "I was just thinking... if a different hairstyle would be better for tomorrow night!"

"You care about my problems too much," she sighed back.

"I... just like to think of you..." she replied as she once again mentally scrambled for something to say, "as the sister I never had!"

She glanced back over her shoulder and said, "I'd like that very much."


	21. Chapter 21

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 21: Out in the Woods

Hiccup sighed as he followed Tuffnut and Ruffnit through the woods. For some reason, they insisted that both dragons remain behind even though they were hiking to a place miles away from Hooligan Village. It was also going to be dark by the time they got back. He hoped it wasn't some of the twin's usual foolishness. After all, he had a meeting to set up with the man who had been hunting Atgeirr for months if not years.

"Are we there yet?" asked Hiccup in mild annoyance.

"For the third time," replied Tuffnut, "I said it's over the next ridge."

"That was two ridges ago."

"So we can't exactly remember which ridge it was," replied Ruffnut, "They kinda look alike from the air."

"So... why again are we on foot?"

"You'll see when we get there," answered Tuffnut.

"If this is about a dragon with a hangnail again..." he muttered under his breath.

However, Hiccup stopped talking when he smelled something. Something old and familiar. The scent of death hanging in the air ahead of them.

He began to think that the twins had an actual issue that needed to be looked into.

"There's one!" said Ruffnut.

He squinted through the tree trunks to see what she was pointing at. It was most likely a fairly small dead beast of some sort, but the shadows in the woods made it impossible to tell from a distance.

"Yeah," said Tuffnut, "This is like so gross and disturbing."

"And we normally like gross and disturbing!" agreed Tuffnut.

Soon he realized what he saw was the corpse of a small dragon. Most likely a Terrible Terror. It kind of bothered him why the twins would suddenly care about one dead dragon. It wasn't like death was unknown to the species. Hiking closer, he spotted another body. Then a third. Seeing so many dead dragons so close together was very unusual.

"I have to agree this is unusual," said Hiccup as they approached the closest body, "but what's so disturbing?"

"You'll see in just a few seconds," replied Ruffnut.

He noticed as they came around the body that there was an arrow through the left eye. It took him but a second to realize it was the same style of arrow that pierced the shoulder of Atgierr.

"Okay," he said, "The visitors on this island must have done this. Perhaps they saw the dragons as some kind of threat. We already know that..."

"There's seven dead Terrible Terrors out here," chided Ruffnut, "and every one of them were slain by a single arrow though their left eye!"

"What?!"

"My sister said..." offered Tuffnut.

"I heard her!" he snapped, "I just don't believe what she said! Why would the hunters do something... something... so needlessly violent?!"

"I have a theory about that," replied Ruffnut.

'_This should be good,_' thought Hiccup.

"This guy chasing Atgierr. He wants to hurt her, right?"

"And he comes from a place that hunts dragons, right?" added her brother.

"WAIT!" he yelled as it suddenly dawned on him, "You think he wants to kill Moon-Dancer just to get revenge of Atgierr?!"

"If he thinks you're shacking up with her, he may wanna kill Toothless too!"

"And you couldn't just tell me this back in the village... because?!"

"If we just walked up to you in Hooligan Village and said all of this right to your face," said Tuffnut, "Would you have believed us?"

He became pale because the twins were right. With their reputation, he most likely would have dismissed this at first. He was very busy arranging the meeting between Atgierr and the man hunting her. The twins were know to both exaggerate and misinterpret many things, after all.

"WE HAVE TO GET BACK TO THE VILLAGE RIGHT NOW!" he called as he turned to run back, "WHO KNOWS HOW MANY OF OUR DRAGONS ARE AT RISK BECAUSE OF THIS!"

"Told you he'd take us seriously if we showed him the bodies," said Tuffnut as he elbowed Ruffnut.

"No!" she responded as she punched him in the side of his helmet, "I said that! You just wanted to spill the beans back in the Village and take our chances!"

"Oh... I guess I did," he replied as the two of them began running after Hiccup.

'_If they've been spying on us,_' he thought as he ran, '_Then they know which house the Night Furies are living in! They know which house Stoick is living in!_' He couldn't bear to think about what could happen if his house came under attack while he was away in the woods.


	22. Chapter 22

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 22: Hoping for the best...

"Thank you for... helping me so much," said Atgeirr awkwardly.

"No problem," replied Astrid, "I hope that... things go well... at the meeting."

She nodded back.

"It would be nice if he left in peace and never bothered you again."

"I... would like that very much," replied the red-haired spear maiden.

"I wonder where Hiccup went off to?" asked the blonde maiden as she looked about.

"I hope he won't be late for the meeting."

Astrid offered her arm as she giggled, "Well I guess I get to escort you to the meeting, my lady."

She grinned as she looped her forearm about Astrid's and locked hands. "You are quite the gentlemen," smirked Atgeirr, "Maybe you're the one I should marry instead of Hiccup?"

Astrid blushed as she suddenly thought about the two of them in wedding dresses.

"I'm sorry," she giggled, "I... didn't mean to imply..."

"Nono," she replied quickly, "I kinda walked into that one, didn't I?"

"Now Moon-Dancer, Toothless," she said as she looked back to the loft, "You two behave, alright?" She looked into Moon-Dancer's eyes as she added, "I don't need you to cause any trouble if we're going to live here many years."

Moon-Dancer looked back innocently.

"You know what I'm talking about, young lady!" scolded Atgeirr.

She responded by sticking her head under Toothless' wing.

"No, I'm not upset with you. Just... keep doing what you two... have been doing... Everything will be fine."

Toothless grinned as he glanced at his mate.

"She... can be a little moody at times," she told Astrid as the two began walking down the stairs.

"I know," answered Astrid, "Stormfly has moments like that too."

The two went out into the street. It was getting dark, so torches were being lit for the main streets. People gave some glances in their direction as the maidens walked by arm in arm as they were. The village was a garden of scents as they walked by various houses, each one radiating the scent of a slightly different meal either being cooked or eaten by those within.

"This place..." sighed Atgeirr, "It's really beautiful here at night, isn't it?"

"Funny," remarked Astrid as she looked about, "I hadn't really thought about it that much."

"When you've seen as many villages as I have, little details like that stick out."

They continued walking as they approached the meeting hall. A few men looked out of place with their black leather armor, blades and bows on them. They stood outside the main hall as if guarding the place.

"I guess that must be the men that came along," sighed Astrid.

"It's almost ironic that his name... is Calder."

"Calder? Like in the cold harsh seas?" asked Astrid as she looked into Atgeirr's eyes.

"Yes," she sighed as she looked away from Astrid, "While he looks warm and inviting from the outside, he's like a raging storm on the ocean on the inside. A dark side of him... I never hope to see again."

"Well I swear he won't hurt you again," she growled back, "He's leaving this place one way or another without you."

Astrid looked back in alarm.

"Don't worry," she replied with a grin, "I promise I won't start anything. But if Calder and his men do, I also swear I'll be the one to finish it."

"You're like the big sister I never had," she said as she looked away. She didn't want Astrid to see her sudden blush. "I don't know what I did to deserve your kindness..."

"Hey, if you're good enough for Hiccup, then you're good enough for me!"

The armed men glared at the two maidens as they walked into the main meeting hall, but neither of them had their hands near their weapons.

"I guess you weren't good enough to be let in," said Astrid with a smirk.

The two men glared at her as they strode past into the moderately lit hall, but soon their gazes returned to the village of Hooligan outside.

Atgeirr suddenly stopped as they passed the first table. Her eyes were fixed towards the front where a man with a blonde mane was speaking to Stoick the Vast.

"What is it?" asked Astrid.

"It's him," she said quietly as he turned to look their way.

"Atgeirr my dear," he said in a tone that took them both by surprise, "It's been too long."

"Not long enough," muttered Astrid under her breath.

He began striding down the middle of the hall right towards them. Astrid felt Atgeirr's hand tightening in a near death grip.

"Not here to make trouble," Astrid said as she laid her other hand on the hilt of the small knife in her belt.

"On the contrary," he replied, "I'm here... to tell you how sorry I am."

That took them both by surprise.

"I've been talking to your chieftain," he said with a grin, "and I've realized how badly I treated you."

Atgeirr's grip tightened.

"So... before I go," he said more slowly, "I'd... like to tell you how sorry I am... All I want for you now is a happy life here in Berk. Perhaps... some day... you'll think about coming home..."

Astrid could see the fear in Atgeirr's eyes.

"But no pressure!" he added.

"Well," said Astrid as she pulled Atgeirr away from him, "Been a long day and my friend here needs something to eat!"

"Oh yes," he smirked, "The golden ale here is quite remarkable."

'_The last thing she needs around YOU is a drink!_' thought Astrid hotly.

"We can talk some more later!" he called as he turned to go back to the head table. His fingers flipped thought his blonde mane as he did so. "By the way," he added, "You are a vision of loveliness!"

'_The worst part is he is handsome,_' she thought as she looked back, '_I'm sure the maidens were falling all over him until they got back to his room._'

Astrid stroked the back of Atgeirr's hand, making her ease up her grip after a few minutes. By then, the two of them were up to the buffet line where half a dozen other Berkians were waiting in line to get food.


	23. Chapter 23

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 23: But Prepared for the Worst

Hiccup and the twins rushed back to the Hooligan Village. He prayed that he wasn't too late to prevent a catastrophe. It was getting late and the side trip the twins took him on was sure to make him more than late to the little meeting with the man stalking Atgierr.

'_It's alright,_' he thought, '_Toothless will protect Moon-Dancer with his life. I just hope he's not a target of these intruders as well. He can deal with one or two archers, but... I don't know if he can handle half a dozen of them at once. I pray they're both alright. These archers... they've been practicing shooting dragons of various sizes in the same eye. I'm sure this is meant as an act... ro terrify us into compliance... to torment Atgeirr more than she already has._'

He found that he could see the lights of the village some time before he could see the building themselves. The soft glow radiated into the hills like an eerie presence.

The twins had been prattling all the way back to the village. Hiccup wondered how they could argue and run at the same time.

"No one said anything about missing out on a buffet!" called Ruffnut.

"I told you about that before we left!" replied Tuffnut.

"You did not!" she replied, "I would have taken our dragons if I thought I was missing out on free food!"

"But we always eat at the mess hall for free!" he answered, "It's not like the guests are bringing anything!"

"What do you mean, 'They aren't bringing anything'? It would be rude not to bring anything!"

"Cuz we didn't ASK them to bring anything!"

A sound came to Hiccup's ears, but he couldn't really hear it over the twin's argument.

"Be quiet a moment!" he yelled at them.

"Well that's not the way..."

"Please!" he begged, "Just a moment!"

So the two fell quiet. He could hear the sound of Toothless sounding out into the night. They were near Stoick's house and that seemed to be where the sound came from.

"OH NO!" he cried, "TOOTHLESS! MOON-DANCER!"

As tired as he was, he managed to run even faster. The twins were having trouble keeping up. While he was grateful to know his father was already at the main hall, it still didn't give him any comfort about the Night Furies.

"By the Beard of Odin!" he pleaded, "Let them be alright!"

He found a body outside the house. It looked like he had fallen... or was thrown... from the balcony above. It was the place where Toothless got in and out of the house. He took a moment to look over the body from the torchlight from the nearest street torch.

He looked like his head was partly crushed, punctured by a few teeth and partly torn from his body. Hiccup guessed that one of the Night Furies must have grabbed it in their mouth and bodily chucked him outside. Most likely the man was dead before he hit the ground.

"That is so cool," muttered Tuffnut.

"Go get the Chief!" replied Hiccup, "Make sure Atgeirr is alright! I have to make sure the dragons are alright, but I'll be along as soon as I can!"

"Do we have to run?" asked Ruffnut.

"Please!" he begged, "Just get there as fast as you can!"

"We can do that!" called Tuffnut as the twins moved off towards the main hall.

The moan was heard again as he entered the front door. He rushed up the stairs as fast as he could.

"Buddy?!" he cried, "Buddy?! Are you okay?!"

When he looked into Toothless' eyes, he knew something was horribly wrong. He was covering Moon-Dancer's body with his own, and she was curled around something he couldn't clearly see. Walking over, he looked over her body to see she was protecting a clutch of eggs. A good half a dozen of them. They must have been laid while he was gone.

Toothless whimpered at him. It was a low moan of pain.

Then he saw it. An arrow through one of Moon-Dancer's eyes. He knew she was dead. Just like the dragons he saw out in the woods. There was only one arrow in sight, so he knew Toothless must have attacked the archer without hesitation. His discarded bow lay on the floor where me must have dropped it when Toothless threw him outside. Her last act must have been to curl up around the eggs to protect them with her own body.

"Odin!" he wailed as he embraced Toothless' head, "It's so unfair that something like this could happen!"

Toothless grunted.

"You're right! I have to make sure that Atgierr is safe!" he called as he turned to run back downstairs, "I promise she'll get the Viking Funeral she deserves!"

He nodded.

...

Calder came over to Atgeirr from where he had been speaking to Stoick.

"Well now that that matter has been settled," he told her, "There's one more thing... I feel I need to do..." He glanced at Astrid who wasn't looking at him with any kindness in her eyes. "Alone... It will just take a couple of minutes..."

"What can't you tell her in front of me?" asked Astrid.

"It's personal," he replied, "It's an apology... something years overdue... and I want to wish her well... in her new life with her new husband. The son of a powerful chief no less."

"I... didn't... want him or you... just because of his status," replied Atgeirr.

"It will just be outside on the balcony," he continued, "I'm not going to try anything with so many armed Vikings in the next room, now would I?"

"If you're nuts," muttered Astrid, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"It's alright, Astrid," replied Atgeirr, "I'll give him a few moments to say his peace before he goes."

Calder took her hand and led her out onto the balcony. He closed the doors behind them, and took her to the railing before he let go of her hand. Then he glanced over his shoulder. Turning to face her, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I never meant to hurt you like that!" she blurt out.

He came over and pulled her into a hug.

"All I ever wanted was to see my father... set free," she pleaded.

"You knew the rules," he whispered into her ear, "The son of the chief always gets what he wants."

"I wanted to go into a marriage unspoiled," she replied.

"Well... I don't see it that way," he answered, "and I'm going to punish you."

"How can you punish me more?"

"Your Night Fury. I'm sure she's dead by now. My top hunter is going to the Chief's house to kill the monster. I know that's going to make you suffer the way I've suffered over the years."

She started to scream before he clamped a hand over her mouth. The heavy glove prevented her from biting that hand.

"Now bitch. I'll return the favor."

There was a sickening sound and a stabbing pain in her gut. She staggered back to see a knife sticking into her stomach. Wrapping her hands around the blade, she tried to pull it back out.

"That's what you get for killing my future children," he hissed.

"Astrid... Hiccup..." she pleaded, "I need you..."

"No one will save you before I..."

The door smashed open as someone screamed, "**YOU SON OF A BITCH!**" Astrid was leaping at Calder clutching a dagger in her hand. He raised his hand to stab her when he realized his knife was in Atgeirr's stomach. Astrid used her momentum to carry herself inside his grasp, and plunged the knife into the base of his neck. There was a spurt of blood before their momentum carried the two of them fell over the railing.

Atgeirr fell backwards onto the floor. "Astrid... no..." The blood was turning her corset crimson. She pleaded to whatever god might be listening.

"ASTRID!" called someone below. It sounded like Tuffnut and Ruffnut calling out as one.

"By the halls of Niflheim!" called Stoick as he barged onto the balcony, "What's going on?!" He rushed over to Atgeirr and pulled the knife out quickly. Then he grabbed a nearby tablecloth and began wrapping her abdomen to staunch the bleeding. "Well the wound doesn't look too deep," he muttered, "Thank goodness you're wearing a corset."

'_She... she protected me..._' thought Atgeirr, '_and I let her down..._'

"Speak to me, child!"

"Astrid! She..." she said weakly as she looked at the railing.

The chief could see some blood on the floor as he ran to the railing. He could see the twins by Astrid's side as she lay on top of Calder.

"It's so lucky this guy broke Astrid's fall," muttered Tuffnut to Ruffnut.

"This guy's bleeding like a stuck pig!" replied Ruffnut.

"HOW IS ASTRID?!" called Stoick.

"Much better off than this guy!" replied Tuffnut.

"Well bring her inside!"

"What about the stiff?" asked Ruffnut.

"We'll worry about the dead once we're done worrying about the living!" Turning, he stomped back into the main hall to see his warrior facing Calder's men. Both sides were wielding the eating daggers. "You're leader is dead!" he called forcefully, "Put down you weapons unless you want to join him!"

His men seemed to hesitate.

"Warriors of Berk!" he called, "Kill them all on the count of three!.. ONE!.. TWO!"

Calder's men laid down the weapons on the nearest table.

"Now I need Gothi up here RIGHT NOW!" he added, "Atgeirr's been stabbed and needs to be treated QUICKLY!"

Gobber ran off as he new the fastest route to Gothi's hut. He then turned to go back to the balcony. While he was no Gothi, he treated his share of battle injuries in his day. He removed the tablecloth to he could take off Atgeirr's corset, and he could treat her injury more directly.

"What's going on?!" called Hiccup. The Chief could hear the ragged gasps in his son's voice as he ran up. "ASTRID?! Are you alright?!"

"Oh, she just fell over a balcony and landed on this guy," said Ruffnut, "I'm sure she'll be fine soon enough. Hoffersons are almost as tough as us Thorstens, after all."

"We're taking her inside like the Chief said," added Tuffnut.

He began wrapping her abdomen with a fresh tablecloth by the time Hiccup burst in through the door. Looking back, he could see his son was crying.

"She's hurt, but I think she'll recover," he said slowly, "I promise."

"It's Moon-Dancer!" replied Hiccup, "She's... she's dead... She died protecting her clutch of eggs."

Stoick was struck speechless.

"Please Freyja," whimpered Atgeirr, "Not her... Please not her..."


	24. Chapter 24

Dragonriders of Berk: The Legend of Atgeirr and Moon-Dancer

by Neoraichu

The Characters and intellectual property of Dreamworks: Dragonriders of Berk are not my own, although I hope that Atgeirr Oddvar and Moon-Dancer are my own OCs. This includes, but is not limited to Hiccup Haddock (and Toothless), Astrid Hofferson (and Stormfly), Fishlegs Ingerman (and Meatlug), Snotlout Jorgenson (and Hookfang), Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (and Barf Belch), Stoick the Vast (and Tornado), Gobber the Belch, Mulch, Bucket, and Trader Johan.

Part 24: Last Dance

Hiccup wondered where the time had went. It seemed to pass in a daze that just seemed more like one long dream.

Gothi treated Atgeirr's wound as best she could, but she assured him through Gobber that unless Freyja was smiling on her, she would most likely be barren for the rest of her life. It seemed Calder got at least part of the revenge he sought.

A month ago, Moon-Dancer was giving a traditional Viking funeral pyre. It was on land instead of a ship, as she didn't own her own boat. Her belongings were buried with her ashes, but that only consisted of the riding gear and armor that Hiccup had crafted for her mostly while she was still alive, but never got to actually wear.

Atgeirr was depressed beyond words. He wondered if he could cope with the loss of someone so close, like Toothless... or Stoick. He wasn't old enough to have many memories of his mother, so he couldn't say that her loss affected him that much.

Worse than that, he was afraid to approach her to offer her comfort. He was deathly afraid from the looks in her eyes that he was just going to remind her of Calder. What he did to her.

She shut herself from every Berkian but one... Astrid. If it wasn't for her insistence, Atgeirr might not have managed to eat even one meal a day let alone keep herself hydrated. Her weight was falling noticeably.

Soon after the funeral, the eggs were packed in sand and moved to the hatchery. Hiccup was surprised that Toothless came to sit on the pile of sand every day for hours on end. It was as if he was doing it out of loyalty to his one and only mate for life: Moon-Dancer.

Calder's men were sent away without the "dowry" that was supposed to be paid to them. All they got was enough food and water to sail back home. They were warned that any return would be treated as an invasion unless there was a REAL GOOD reason for them to come back.

He suspected the worst when Atgeirr moved in with Astrid after the first week or so. Astrid told Hiccup that the red-haired spear maiden cried herself to sleep every night. She would burst into tears at other times as well, but only when she was alone or in Astrid's company. It was everything she could do to comfort the weeping maiden.

In the third week, Astrid came running to Hiccup in a panic. It was just after sunrise, and she told him that Atgeirr has slipped out of the house while she was sleeping. All of the dragonriders were scrambled to search the island for her. He hoped she wouldn't do what he feared she might.

His fears were confirmed when Toothless and him flew to the highest cliff on Berk. Atgeirr was there staring out over the open sea. She was naked and her hair was loose in the wind. Her toes stood on the edge of the cliff. Unfortunately, he was a few hundred feet overhead when he finally spotted her.

"**DIVE!**" he screamed as he set the tail for the highest speed, and so he started plunging down towards the ocean just as she jumped. While he was diving much faster than she fell, he wasn't sure if he was going to catch her in time.

She rolled over on the way down to see him diving at her. Her hands waved frantically to tell him to veer away, but he wouldn't listen. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he drew closer to her, and the surface of the ocean to them.

"BUDDY!" he yelled, "WE'RE GETTING A SALTWATER BATH TODAY!"

He reached out and managed to grab her ankle. He dragged her into an awkward hug of her legs even as Toothless folded in his wings and braced for impact. The dragon angled himself to absorb the lion's share of the impact instead of his riders. If there was anyone watching, they surely would have been impressed by the splash they made that day.

A couple of minutes passed before they surface, and Hiccup spit out a mouthful of saltwater. Atgeirr was weeping.

"Why did you bother?!" she wailed, "I can't live without her!"

"Because I can't live without YOU!" he yelled back. On impulse, he pulled her into a kiss.

Toothless was swimming back to the port of Hooligan as he mildly bruised his wings in the crash. The saddle and gear kept the two riders above water.

"You should have let me die," she cried, "so I can see Moon-Dancer in the Hall of the Honored Dead..."

"Then next time, you'll have to kill me too!"

She blinked at him before she replied, "But... you have so much to live for..."

"One of those things I live for is you!" he retorted as he hugged her tighter. After, seawater was cold and was not recommended for long periods. "Besides, what would Moon-Dancer say if you left us before her clutch hatched?!"

"Dragons don't talk."

"You know what I mean!" he sighed back.

After returning to shore, Astrid put a towel around Atgeirr and took her back home. The blonde maiden had to drag her friend to the hatching and bonding ceremony. As the son of the chief, Hiccup was there as well even though he already had a loyal dragon he cared about more than anything except possibly his father... and Atgeirr. As the proud father, they couldn't keep Toothless away with a wild Thunderdrum... or Stoick's for that matter.

Since Astrid wasn't really there for the hatching, she stayed with Atgeirr in the corner of the cave. The redhead just couldn't bear to look at the hatching mound.

Atgeirr remembered back to the first time she had ever met Moon-Dancer. It was a couple of months after she was banished from her home island forever. All the time she had spent alone hunting and gathering to survive. It was getting dark and she hated to be alone in the open at night. So she scrambled into the first cave she found to set up a fire. She still had some fresh fish she caught earlier and was eager to cook it up.

Once inside, she found a mound of sand. It was recently disturbed and there was tracks all over.

'_An abandoned dragon's nest,_' she thought, '_It's lucky they all cleared out. I wasn't planning to share this cave._'

She set about making a good sized campfire and began cooking fish on sticks. Soon, the fire was the only thing lighting up the cave around her.

'_With the smell of dragons around and the light of the fire, I doubt no predator is going to sack out here tonight._'

Suddenly, there was a noise behind her. She was so concerned about the entrance to the cave that she all but forgot about what was behind her. A pair of eyes looked from the darkness sparkling in the fire light.

'_A DRAGON!_'

The little beast crawled forward. Once it was in the light, she recognized it from her Grandmother's tales.

'_A NIGHT FURY?!_'

The dragon continued to crawl ahead sniffing the air. They were clearly drawn to the smell of fish.

'_That last egg must have hatched late. Maybe the others thought the egg was inviable?_'

She offered one of her cooked fish to the drooling hatchling, so it gobbled it up.

'_Is this dragon bonding with me?!_'

By the time dinner was done, half of her fish vanished down the hatchling's gullet. It was almost too much to think about, so she went outside to see the moonlight. It was a cloudless night and the moon shone so brightly down on her. The dragon followed her, and they both stared at the moon.

Suddenly, the hatching began... dancing. It was more like skipping and jumping as if the moon was something they could reach if they only jumped high enough.

"Well little one," she giggled, "Aren't you the little moon dancer?"

The dragon nodded as it acknowledged that would he her name forever.

Something poked her in the back snapping her out of her memory.

"Astrid," she sighed, "I know you mean well, but you don't have to poke me like that."

"That wasn't me," she replied.

She was suddenly aware that she was surrounded by Viking youths. The ones looking for a dragon of their very own. She was mystified by their looks until she spun around. There was a hatchling right behind her. Almost the spitting image of Moon-Dancer herself.

"Well it looks like you're getting another dragon whether you want one or not," giggled Astrid.

"But I don't have any fish, little one," she scolded the infant.

The hatchling simply crawled onto Atgeirr's lap and began licking her face like a dog or something.

"Oh hatchling spit!" she spluttered. Everyone around them began laughing. Then they all returned to the other eggs.

"Looks like you got the last," said Hiccup as he came up on them with Toothless in tow.

Atgeirr was to busy hugging her dragon and crying her eyes out to respond.

"If you want Toothless and me to help train her," he added, "My room is still... open."

She wiped her eyes and nodded.

Astrid smiled.

"Now that I have a reason to live for," she sighed, "I might as well have two." She looked into Hiccup's eyes as she asked, "Would you... marry me?"

Hiccup blinked. It was about the last thing he was expecting to hear.

"I'm sorry..." she sobbed, "It was wrong of me..."

"YES!" yelled Hiccup, "I want to marry you! Please be my wife!" He rushed over to hug her with the dragon hatchling kind of caught between them.

She took the initiative and kissed him on the lips as Astrid smiled.

"But... what if I never give you an heir?" she asked.

"Then I guess the Haddock line ends with me, doesn't it?" he giggled back.

"Well..." sighed Astrid, "I'm sure you two..."

But without warning, Hiccup and Atgeirr dragged Astrid into their hug as well. They both planted a big wet kiss on each of her cheeks before she blushed.

"I wouldn't be here without you looking out for me," sighed Atgeirr, "Something I'll never be able to pay back."

"I feel the same," added Hiccup.

"Oh... you guys!" protested Astrid.

The dragon grunted.

"So what are you going to name her?" he asked.

"Are you sure it's her?" asked Atgeirr.

He nodded.

"For giving me a reason to carry on," she sighed, "I'm naming you Hopeful."

"That's a great name," agreed Astrid.

Stoick and the others noticed them together, and he decided nothing had to be said about it... until later. After all, he figured it won't be long before there was going to be a wedding. He had to do much since Hiccup's mother was no longer around to help him. He did miss her so.

[~fin~]


End file.
